Kingdom Hearts: Nothing's Return
by elfuhbuh
Summary: *sequel to Unlucky Thirteen* Along with Sora and friends, the surviving former members of Organization XIII are recruited by King Mickey to investigate a large uprising of Heartless on the World that Never Was, but all is not as it seems. AxelxOC
1. A Royal Pain

A/N: Hello, everyone. One reason I quit working on this story for awhile was computer issues, but I also wasn't all that happy with the way it was going. So I"m going to go back and improve it, editing some chapters, and possibly adding a chapter or two. Here is my first edited chapter! Feel free to drop me a review with your opinion on the new, improved version!

A Royal Pain

It felt good to back, Axel reflected as he walked through the corridor of darkness, the familiar, multi-hued mists of the realm in between swirling around him. Back in business, back in action, whatever. When Sora had shown up on Hollow Bastion—Radiant Garden, he corrected himself mentally, rolling his eyes. The townspeople's stubborn insistence on the new name was starting to wear off on him-only a week after the fall of the Organization, he'd been tempted to go tell the Keybearer to go jump in a lake. Trying to make nice with the locals was hard enough; he wasn't about to add babysitting the Keyblade master to his to-do list. But Sora had come bearing a mission from the King of Disney Castle, some vague nonsense about Maleficent summoning up a Heartless threat—it would probably turn out to be nothing, but hey, at this point anything had to be more interesting than sitting around Radiant Garden twiddling his thumbs and trying to ignore the townies' suspicious glares.

Axel gave a sidelong glance to the two walking beside him—Kanixa just on his left, and Demyx on her other side. It was no surprise why he'd done the closest his dignity would allow to jumping at Sora's offer, the real puzzle was why they'd decided to come along. Well, it didn't take a genius to figure out Demyx's motivation. It beat the alternative—the Melodious Nocturne didn't relish prolonged visits to Radiant Garden any more than Axel did, for much the same reasons. But Kanixa didn't enjoy fighting, and she should have been thrilled at the chance to sit around visiting with her Other's friends, trying to fit herself into the space that Anika had left in their lives and stubbornly refusing to see that she no longer quite fit, like a square peg in a round hole…

His face closed off, eyes darkening with anger, as he pursued that train of thought. If he was being honest with himself—something he'd rarely done in the Organization, as living without that burdensome thing called a conscience proved so much easier, but with Kanixa's power, and lately Sora's influence, pulling at him it happened more and more often now—that was the foremost reason he hated Radiant Garden. While there, Kanixa constantly found herself pulled between loyalties to her old life and her new life, and somehow her Other's friends always seemed to end up on top.

Well, perhaps another trip to save the worlds was just what the doctor ordered. Some time away from Leon and the Restoration Committee, to remind her just who was really important…

"Penny for your thoughts, Axel?"

"Huh?" Snapping back into himself, he glanced over to see Kanixa looking up at him with a curious expression.

"You looked pretty serious all of a sudden," she explained, giving him a smile.

"Just wondering what we're up against," he replied lightly. "Though this whole thing is probably just the King's paranoia talking."

Now it was Kanixa who wore a frown. Axel reached over to give her shoulder a light shove, to get her attention. "What's eating you?" he required, with his usual lack of tact, when she looked up at him in surprise.

"I just never thought I'd be going back there," she said softly.

"You've been to Disney Castle, Nixa?" Demyx asked, surprised. Axel waited to hear her answer, surprised himself. If she had gone to Disney Castle, it must have been during that brief period of time she'd gone rogue before he caught up with her, on her way to meet Demyx on Hollow Bastion.

"Disney Castle? I thought we were going to the World that Never Was! We are going after Maleficent, aren't we?" she protested, looking confused.

"That would be too easy," Axel commented. "First we have to see the King, so he can give us royal instruction on how to proceed." His sarcastic tone made it clear how he felt about the pointless side trip. The idea that he needed instructions on how to spy was ridiculous. The Organization had done far more to prepare him than one king ever could. The same was true for Demyx , and even Kanixa. Sora, on the other hand, could use a few lessons on subtlety. "Really it's an excuse to give us all a few days to rest."

"A few…days?" Kanixa asked, beginning to sound like a parrot. Axel prepared to make a snarky comment, but then remembered she'd been absent when Sora had explained the situation back on Radiant Garden. So he settled for explaining what she'd missed as graciously as he could. Not that that said much.

"In case you've forgotten, all of us, including the King's precious Keybearer, have just been through several major battles. Of course he'll want us all at top strength before we actually take any action. He won't want his spies making mistakes."

"Spies? But I thought—"

He cut her off impatiently, tired of rehashing old information. "Weren't you paying attention? Maleficent has summoned a huge amount of Heartless, and the King wants us to find out why."

"So, Nixa," Demyx interjected, shooting Axel a warning look. He held the water wielder's gaze for a beat or two, not intimidated, but he got the message all the same: enough already. "How are you feeling? Ready to tackle some Heartless?"

"Of course," she replied, smiling at the blonde. "I want revenge. Those little monsters destroyed my coat." Axel glanced over at her to see that she no longer wore her Organization coat, which had taken a beating. Someone, presumably Yuffie, had dressed her in a tank top and shorts. Paired with her calf-length Organization boots, the outfit made her look ridiculous—if he had to label it, he might call it "conservative hooker."

"Maybe you can snag one out of the spares out of the supply closet while we're paying a call on Maleficent," he suggested. But first, he would put the castle tailors to work to find a new outfit for her—it was the least the King could do for dragging them halfway across the known worlds for an audience.

"Maybe," Kanixa said doubtfully. The frown she wore now was softer, a thinking expression, as she doubtlessly went through the logistics of sneaking around to the supply closet without being detected in her head.

"We're here," Demyx interrupted, opening a portal out. Kanixa stepped out first, Axel just on her heels. They stood in the middle of the castle's immaculate front lawn. Grass an unnaturally bright shade of green made a neatly trimmed carpet, and giant topiaries loomed in every direction. Axel's fingers clenched and unclenched; the temptation to summon his chakrams and set one or two of the sculpted hedges alight grew every second he had to look at the hideous things.

"This place looks…nice," Kanixa said finally, sounding unsure of herself. The look on her face indicated she found the garden as pretentious as he did.

"Aw, man!" The dejected cry from behind him made Axel turn. Sora stood a yard or so away, staring at him in disbelief. Behind him, Riku watched impassively, arms folded, and Kairi glared at him through narrowed eyes. "How could you beat us?" The Keyblade master asked, half to himself.

Axel smirked down at the younger boy. "Better luck next time." Sora smiled back.

"Sora!" The mage, Donald, barreled between Riku and Kairi, racing up to the Keybearer and past him. "Don't dawdle! We have to report to the King!"

"Wait for me, Donald!" Goofy ran after his friend. Sora watched them go with a slightly puzzled expression.

"We'd better follow them," Riku said quietly. "We don't want to keep the King waiting." Sora nodded, breaking into a run himself. Riku and Kairi kept pace. Kanixa and Demyx trailed behind them at a walk. Axel fell in beside Kanixa, and, an idea springing into his head, gave Demyx a look that told him in no uncertain terms to make himself scarce. Demyx nodded slightly before speeding up until he'd nearly caught up with Sora.

"What's with him?" Kanixa asked, frowning at his retreating back.

"Dunno," Axel lied. Now that they were alone, he might as well dive right in to the matter he wanted to discuss. Speaking of reminding Kanixa who was really important… "You know, Kanixa, I've been thinking. There's a conversation we still have to finish." He turned an expectant green gaze on her.

"Conversation?" Kanixa looked confused, and slightly unnerved by the intensity of his gaze. "I don't follow you."

"On Twilight Town," he hinted further.

"We had lots of conversations on Twilight Town." Kanixa reached up to brush a piece of hair out of her face. "I don't get what you're hinting at," she said flatly. "So you might as well just tell me."

"We agreed to postpone talking about a relationship until after the Organization was dealt with. I think now safely counts as after. Don't you?" he added, raising his eyebrows. He wore his normal cocky smile, but for once he didn't have the inner assurance to back it up. Maybe springing it on her like this wasn't a good idea….what if she turned him down?

"Axel…" A light blush rose into her cheeks, and she dropped her gaze from his. "I…"

"Come on, you guys!" Sora cried from up ahead. He'd stopped and turned back to shout at them, hands cupped around his mouth.

Kanixa gave him an apologetic look, but her eyes held a glimmer of something else…relief? "I guess we'll have to finish this conversation later," she said before jogging forward to join Demyx, who had almost reached the spot where Sora waited impatiently for them. Axel brought up the rear, resisting the urge to summon his chakrams and sling one at the Keyblade Master. If the little pipsqueak hadn't interrupted, Kanixa would have had no choice but to answer him. As it was, who knew when he'd get the chance to get her alone?

They followed Sora through the double doors of Disney Castle, and down an opulent hallway to another set of double doors. Sora pushed them open to reveal a library that Axel had to concede would be impressive if you liked that kind of thing. Kanixa evidently did; her eyes were huge as she took in the walls covered with shelves of thick books, interspersed with pictures of what had to be royal ancestors.

"A-hem." A polite cough drew the party's attention to the center of the room. The queen, judging by the crown she wore, smiled blandly at them once she had everyone's attention.

"Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy snapped to, saluting and looking grave. Sora bowed, after an elbow in the ribs from Donald. As he rose, he gave the queen a smile and a wave. "Hello, Queen Minnie."

"Hello, Sora," Queen Minnie chirped. "It's so good to see you again!"

Riku bowed as well, "Your Majesty," he said gravely. Kairi curtseyed mutely. So the redhead could keep her mouth shut when she chose. Who would have known? Axel wondered.

"You must be Riku and Kairi. And you three must be Axel, Demyx and Kanixa. The King has told me so much about you."

Demyx and Kanixa glanced at each other, uncertain of the protocol, then inclined their heads in half-bows. Axel merely nodded at the queen. He felt no need to kowtow to some sovereign he owed no allegiance to.

"The King is waiting in the throne room," the queen said serenely. "Sora, you know the way." Sora saluted, then ran out of the door, Donald and Goofy right on his heels. Riku and Kairi followed, and once again the three Nobodies trailed at the rear. Kanixa's hands pulled nervously at the hem of her tank top—evidently she didn't feel she was dressed to go before royalty.

"Relax," he advised her in a low murmur that wouldn't carry. "You've met the King before, remember? He's not that impressive."

"I a_m_ relaxed," she snapped back. Realizing that her tone belied her words, she settled for a haughty silence. About halfway down the hallway they'd come down, Sora stopped in front a pair of truly humongous double doors. They loomed all the way up to the ceiling. Axel waited, watching curiously. If Sora could get those open, the Keybearer was far stronger than he'd given him credit for. Sora shoved against the base of one of the doors, and a far smaller door that made up part of the huge door swung open. Typical.

The party filed through the smaller opening, down a very long red carpet to the throne at the end of the room where the King sat. As they reached the dais, he hopped down from his throne.

"Hello, fellas!" He greeted Donald and Goofy as they saluted. "Hello, Sora. Riku. Kairi." His gaze transferred to the trio of former Organization members and his gaze grew less warm. "Axel. Demyx. Kanixa. I wasn't sure whether to expect you three. But I'm glad you came."

Axel shrugged. "No reason not to," he replied easily, keeping his eyes firmly on the King. People with hearts were surprisingly easy to read, and he wanted to know more on why the King had asked them here.

"So, Axel. How much did Sora tell you about why I asked you here?" King Mickey asked.

"The basics," he replied. "Maleficent has summoned a huge amount of Heartless, and you want to know why."

"That's right. But there's more." The King looked around furtively, as if trying to spot anyone who might be listening. Did he really suspect his own people? "Maleficent is a powerful sorceress with a lot of ambition. Around three years ago, she tried to summon Kingdom Hearts for herself, but in the end a powerful being called Ansem—the Heartless of the leader of Organization XIII—took over the project himself. But Maleficent hasn't given up on her ambition. She may be trying to build another Kingdom Hearts."

"It makes sense," Axel commented. "But a huge crowd of Heartless won't do the trick. That's why the Organization was interested in Sora, here." He gave the Keyblade master a hard-edged smile, resulting in glares from Riku and Kairi, before continuing. "Once the Keyblade releases the captive hearts from Heartless, then the hearts can be used to build up Kingdom Hearts. Her plan won't work without the Keyblade master." Although really any Keyblade would do, so the witch might set her sights on Kairi…or…

"Maleficent must know this. So she could be setting a trap for a Keyblade wielder," the King said gravely, cutting off his train of thought. "That puts you at risk, Sora. And you too, Kanixa," he added, clearly as an afterthought. "Gosh, I almost forgot. You have a Keyblade too, don't'cha?"

"Yes," Kanixa replied levelly. "Two, actually."

"Then are the two of you prepared to accept this mission, knowing the risks?" The King glanced from Sora to Kanixa, face serious. "I'll understand if you say no."

"Of course, Your Majesty!" Sora said confidently, saluting.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Kanixa said quietly, inclining her head.

"Great!" King Mickey said, smiling. "Then I guess it's time for the servants to show you to your rooms. We'll talk more at dinner." As if on cue, the door to the throne room swung open. Brooms magicked into life filed down the carpet, each one stopping in front of one of the party. Sora appeared completely unfazed, but the others regarded the servants with expressions ranging from interest to surprise. Each broom paused for a few seconds before filing away again, the person it was assigned to trailing behind. Fortunately, all of the brooms seemed to be heading the same direction.

"I don't like the sound of this," Demyx muttered in a low voice, giving the King a suspicious glance over his shoulder.

"Huh?" Kanixa gave him a surprised look. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know," Axel deadpanned, "maybe the bit about possibly walking into a trap for a Keyblade wielder?" The King had conveniently left that out of the message he'd sent Sora. Otherwise he never would have let Kanixa off of Radiant Garden. At least he knew that he and Demyx were on the same page when it came to protecting her.

"And that's supposed to scare me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Axel, the entire Organization was _definitely_ trying to capture and kill me, and I survived that. Compared to that, this should be easy."

Axel kept his own thoughts on the subject private, but judging from the sober expression that Riku had worn when the King mentioned Maleficent, the witch might be a force to be reckoned with. Whatever the silver-haired boy's other faults, he didn't share Sora's rash judgment or easy impressionability. He made a mental note to ask Riku about it later.

"Still—" Demyx began, but Kanixa cut him off.

"Guys, don't you think you're being a little too cautious?" she asked, sounding amused. "Remember, I'm not the only Keybearer here. There's Sora—and he's a lot better known than I am. If Maleficent is setting a trap for anyone, he should probably be the one to worry."

"Hey, that's right," Demyx said, sounding cheered by the reminder. Riku threw the sitar player a glare over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Kanixa," Sora said, glancing back with a smile. "Maleficent is nothing I can't handle."

"Really? That's not how I remember it," Kairi teased. Sora blushed slightly. Axel rolled his eyes. The two would end up together by the end of the mission. Though what Sora saw in the bratty Princess of Heart was beyond him. The brooms led them to the same wing of the palace, stopping in front of six doors on the same hall. Kanixa had a room between Axel and Demyx, and Kairi had a room between Riku and Sora.

"Bye, Sora," Donald squawked. Evidently he would be staying in his own room in a different part of the castle. Good riddance.

"We'll see you at dinner," Goofy said with a parting wave. With that, the King's two retainers left. The rest of the party vanished into their rooms. Axel put a restraining hand on Kanixa's arm.

"Now that the royal audience is over, how about we finish our conversation?" he asked, pinning her with his gaze, hoping to ward off any evasions.

"Sure. Come in," Kanixa invited, stepping into the room her broom had indicated. The door opened onto a room fit for a princess. Ruffles, lace, and the color pink appeared wherever Axel looked. Kanixa took in the overwhelmingly girly display with a what-can-you-do shrug before taking a seat on the edge of the immense canopied bed.

"You were just about to answer my question," Axel prompted her before she'd have an opportunity to dodge the issue. He leaned against the wall by the door, languid pose at odds with the tension he felt inside. "Before Sora so rudely interrupted us."

"I remember," she assured him. "And of course I want to date you. Silly," she added, giving him a smile. "I've just been waiting for you to bring it up."

"Oh." He felt slightly sheepish at that revelation, and he reached up to scratch the back of his head. "I didn't think you were that old-fashioned," he added with a smirk to cover the fact that she'd unbalanced him slightly.

"There's just one thing," she continued.

"Oh?" Axel asked sharply, thrown off-balance by the unexpected qualifier. "What's the problem?" The situation seemed straightforward enough—either she wanted to date him, or she didn't.

"We agreed to postpone dating until the Organization was dealt with—"

"And they are," Axel interrupted.

"But what if this whole Maleficent thing blows up into something else, and we have to go and save the worlds again?" she asked, sounding unhappy at the prospect. "What if we're always off fighting, and we don't have any time for just…us?"

Axel crossed the room to take a seat beside her on the bed. "We'll make time," he promised. "Besides, the rumor about Maleficent is probably nothing, Nixa. We're only here to play the tour guides—we can get Sora around the World that Never Was unseen if there really is anything there. But while we're on the subject, why did you decide to tag along on this little trip?"

"Tag along? I was invited too," she reminded him, lifting her chin mulishly. Apparently he'd struck a nerve.

"I would have thought that you'd prefer to stay on Hollow Bastion. You know, get some rest. See your friends. Stay out of the fighting for a while."

"I can do that when we get back. Like you said, this shouldn't take long. Unless you know something I don't about Maleficent. Actually, what _do _you know about her?" she asked, gazing up at him expectantly. "I'd like to know what I'm up against."

"I don't really know much about the witch," he responded truthfully. "Just be ready for anything." He reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I would hate to lose someone I care about." She glanced over at him, surprised, bringing their faces closer together…close enough to kiss…

At that point, someone knocked on the door. "I—I'd better get that," a suddenly pink-cheeked Kanixa announced, practically diving across the room to get to the door. Axel glared at the door, ready to give whoever was behind it a tongue-lashing for interrupting what could have been a romantic moment. To his surprise, after Kanixa threw open the door, he saw that the guilty party was a sentient broom. It thrust its bundle—some cumbersome piece of cloth—into Kanixa's arms before waddling away on its bristle-"legs."

"Weird," Kanixa commented, closing the door with her hip and staggering her way over to the bed with the heavy bundle. After she dropped it right next to Axel, who quickly scooted out of the way, she unfurled the bundle to reveal a full-skirted court gown.

Axel couldn't keep a smirk off of his face as he stared at the gown. It wasn't hideous, but with one glance he knew that the over-the-top, princess style wouldn't suit Kanixa. Other than the fact that this dressed looked trimmed to fit Kanixa, and that it was green instead of pink, it looked the twin of the pink monstrosity that Queen Minnie had been wearing in the library, from the puff sleeves to the star-shaped buttons holding back the gathered skirt from the darker-colored underskirt. "Huh. Guess we're expected to dress for dinner," he commented.

Kanixa looked at the bundle with distaste. "I'll look hideous in this," she whined.

Axel shrugged. "Now, now. It wouldn't do to refuse the King's hospitality. You'd better wear it," he advised, smirk only growing when she glared at him.

"Fine advice from someone who they're not trying to dress up. How do you know that there isn't a tuxedo or something waiting for you in your room?" she sniffed. Picking up the cumbersome bundle, she hauled it into her room's adjoining bathroom to change. A few minutes later, she returned, though her wide skirt almost got her stuck in the doorway. "What do you think?" she asked, trying her best to sound unconcerned, though her hands pulled at the skirt of the dress nervously.

Axel kept a poker face on as he let his gaze flick over the gown, just to needle her with his lack of a reaction. Though the gown had looked fairly awful just lying out, somehow Kanixa managed to pull it off. The tapered waist set off her own slim form, the pale green—almost the shade of his own eyes—made her eyes stand out, and the full skirt made her look like some fairy tale princess.

Some fairy tale princess whose mouth was twisted into an unhappy scowl. "I look like a kid playing dress up, don't I?" Kanixa complained, tone coming dangerously close to a whine. "That's it. I'm going to take it off!"

"Wait a minute," Axel objected, getting to his feet. "It looks better than you'd think. See?" Slipping an arm around her shoulders, he guided her over to the full-length mirror that hung suspended from a frame in the corner.

Kanixa examined her reflection with a narrow-eyed, critical stare. "I guess it's not _so_ bad," she said finally.

"'Not so bad?'" Axel repeated. "Come on. Admit it. You're hot." He swept out one arm to gesture at her reflection. When Kanixa shot him a sidelong long, as if she wasn't sure what to make of his statement, he wondered if he'd overstepped himself.

"Thanks," she said shyly, dropping her gaze, a blush rising to her cheeks. "Now, get going," she snapped, sounding more like her normal self.

"Have I worn out my welcome that quickly?" Axel asked, smirking down at her.

"No. I just want to see if there's some equally horrendous outfit waiting in your room," she announced. "So I'm coming with."

"You have to be kidding," Axel said as he followed her towards the door. "The King has to know that I won't play dress up for him like some—"

His mouth closed abruptly as Kanixa opened the door and they beheld Demyx standing in the hallway, wearing a grim expression and a rather unusual-looking tuxedo. The cut was fine and it fit him well enough, but instead of the normal black it was a bright, cerulean blue, the same color as his eyes, and the buttons on the jacket and at the cuffs were a clashing lemon yellow.

"We have to dress for dinner," Number Nine explained, tone as bleak as though he'd announced they would all be executed at dawn.

"Looking good, Demyx," Axel declared with a smirk. He would have continued, but Kanixa elbowed him in the ribs.

"You look nice, Demyx," she said, giving him a smile.

"Laugh it up," Demyx advised, giving Axel a hard smile, ignoring Kanixa's compliment. "Just wait and see what they've got laid out for you."

"Who says I'm going to wear whatever it is?" Axel challenged.

"After what you just told me? No way. Fair is fair," Kanixa said, turning to face him and giving him a stubborn look, folding her arms. "If I have to play along, then so do you."

Axel's eyes flashed, and he glared at her, trying to think of a suitable response to extricate him from this situation. But nothing was coming to him. Besides, it probably wasn't best to antagonize her too much, given the fact that she'd just agreed to go out with him.

"Fine," he growled. "Wait here." And with that, he stalked into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Kanixa bit her lip as she and Demyx waited out in the hallway for Axel to reappear. He'd certainly seemed less than pleased when she'd called him on his bluff. But, come on! It wasn't fair for Axel to go around looking sleek and dangerous as usual in the Organization's black—he really did look handsome in it—while she had to be stuck in the pastel clothing of…of awfulness!

Suddenly, the door to Axel's room flew open. Axel stood in the doorway, eyes smoldering with defiance. "Happy now?" he demanded sourly, folding his arms.

He wore a—surprise—pastel tuxedo, and its minty green shade exactly matched the shade of her gown….and of his eyes, now that she realized it. Other than the color, the tuxedo wasn't all that awful—the tailored jacket and trousers played up his tall, lanky frame, and the sharp-cornered lapels on the jacket matched his spiky hair—and prickly attitude. The white dress shirt underneath looked like something that should have been forgotten in the disco age—a mass of ruffles that (fortunately) quickly disappeared under the jacket. A mint green bowtie completed the ensemble.

"You look good," she reassured him. "Well, except for the shirt. And look…we match!" She walked over to stand beside him.

"Hmph," Axel snorted, apparently not mollified. "Well, this is the one and only time I'll be going by their dress code. Got that memorized?" he asked, giving her a stern look.

"Don't pin this on me," she retorted. "You're the one that told me we shouldn't make a point of offending the King—"

"No, I said you shouldn't make a point of offending the King. I never said anything about me," Axel said, putting a hand to his chest, smirking down at her.

"We don't need to cause trouble, Axel," Demyx broke in, tone flat, giving Axel a hard stare. "This isn't our turf."

"What, you think I can't take that pipsqueak—" Axel began, in a tone that indicated he perceived a challenge and intended to rise to the bait. That didn't bode well at all, Kanixa thought, nervousness blooming in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey!" Sora's chipper voice provided a welcome distraction. "So, it looks like the King sent you guys new clothes too."

Kanixa glanced up to see the Keyblade master standing outside his room, wearing a pastel pink tuxedo. "You're looking snazzy, Axel," he commented, putting his arms behind his head as he took in Number Eight's new outfit. "You too, Demyx. I wonder what we all have to dress up for?"

"You don't look too bad yourself, Sora," Axel returned. "That is, if you like looking like a bowl of strawberry ice cream."

Sora gave a sheepish-sounding chuckle. "Yeah…I think we're supposed to match our dates," he said as Kairi stepped out of her room, wearing a pink gown. "That's why you and Kanixa are wearing the same color, right?"

"I guess so," Axel said, sounding cheered by this prospect, draping a proprietary arm over Kanixa's shoulders. She stiffened slightly, resisting the urge to say something about it. They'd been dating for all of ten minutes—he shouldn't be so cocky. But then, telling Axel not to be cocky would be like telling the sun not to shine—pointless.

"So if they're pairing us off an all," the redhead was saying, turning his attention to Demyx, "maybe they'll rustle up a beautiful court lady for you, Demyx."

Demyx gave the Flurry of Dancing Flames a hard stare. "You really think I'd want anyone that came from this world?"

At that moment, Riku emerged from his room, wearing a scowl—and a cerulean blue tuxedo.

Axel's eyes glinted, but before he could so much as open his mouth, Kanixa elbowed him in the side. "Don't you _dare_," she hissed, trying not to move her lips. He glared down at her, looking affronted.

"What was that for?"

"It means behave," she informed him. She would have said more—Axel didn't look mollified in the least; he was still glaring down at her—but Sora was finally breaking the silence.

"I never thought they'd actually get you in a tuxedo," he said, grinning up at his friend.

"I could have said the same about you. Although I'm betting Kairi had more to do with getting you to go along with it," Riku returned, a smile on his face as he teased his friend. "But…couldn't they have picked colors that were less…"

"Tacky?" Axel supplied. Riku gave him a sharp look, but didn't disagree with Number Eight's assessment.

"I think they just picked what colors looked good on the girls, and then the guys had to match," Sora explained, smoothing his pink tuxedo jacket nervously.

"Well, then…who am I supposed to match?" Riku asked, not looking pleased with the idea that there might be some court lady downstairs that would be foisted on him for the evening.

He glanced up…and met Demyx's most ferocious glare. "I am not," Number Nine declared, "spending the evening with you."

For a few long seconds, Riku just glared back, hands curling into fists. Then: "Whatever. Let's just get this over with," the silver-haired boy declared. He threaded through the group, coming dangerously close to shouldering Demyx as he did so. "If we're all dressed up, I'm guessing we should head to the ballroom," he said over his shoulder once he'd almost reached the end of the hallway. "I can show you the way. Are you coming?"

"I think we're all ready," Kanixa said after glancing at Axel and Demyx for confirmation.

"You go on. I think Kairi's still getting ready," Sora said, putting his hands behind his head and giving them a sheepish grin.

Not particularly pleased with this turn of events—a ballroom probably meant dancing, not something that was high on his list of preferred activities. The only thing good about this whole thing was that it might provide a romantic evening with Kanixa—Axel wore a scowl as he followed Riku through the maze of corridors.

"Axel?" He glanced down to see Kanixa gazing up at him, looking nervous.

"Yeah?" he asked, a bit curtly. He was still smarting—metaphorically and literally—over the none-too-gentle elbow in the ribs she'd given him back there. What was with her today?

"You don't think this is going to be some kind of dance, do you?" she asked, looking a bit pale at the prospect.

"It's looking that way," he replied slowly, keeping his eyes on her face, trying to read her thoughts. She normally wasn't this dense, so what was with her? "Is that a problem?" he asked when her already pale face took on a green tinge. When she didn't answer, he put a hand on her shoulder, halting her. "Talk to me," he ordered, steering her over to one side of the hallway, where they wouldn't be overheard.

"I don't know how to dance," she said in a whisper.

"Then just follow my lead. It'll be fine. Unless you want to skip?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"That would be rude," she said, shaking her head.

"All right, but if you change your mind later…" Axel trailed off, deciding to change his tack. Maybe distracting her would work best. He offered her his best imitation of a courtly bow, and as he straightened he held out his arm for her to take.

"We might as well look the part, you know," he told her, smiling.

At first Kanixa just blinked at him, surprised. Then, a shy smile on her face, she reached out and slipped her arm through his.

"There you are," Riku commented flatly when they caught up to him and Demyx after the first bend in the corridor. "Let's get going."

"Where were you two?" Demyx demanded once Riku was nearly out of earshot, clearly indignant at having been left alone with him.

"Just sorting out a little hiccup," Axel replied evasively.

"Cheer up, Demyx," Kanixa advised, reaching out to lay her free hand comfortingly on his arm. "This could be fun. Maybe you can be the band for the party."

"Maybe," Demyx agreed, brightening somewhat. "And maybe we can find out what's really going on here," he added in a low voice, expression turning grim.

"What do you mean?" Kanixa asked, brow furrowing into a perplexed frown.

"Come on, Nixa. The King may be trying to be open-minded about Nobodies, but wining and dining us? Giving us fancy new clothes?" Demyx gestured down at himself. "Something's up."

"My thoughts exactly," Axel murmured. "They shouldn't be rolling out the red carpet treatment for a bunch of Nobodies. Maybe there's something about this Maleficent hag they're not telling us. Let's be sure to keep our ears open tonight."


	2. Nothing's Return

A/N: And here is my second edited chapter, moving right along! Read and enjoy!

2. Nothing's Return

In the center of the room that had been known as the Hall of Empty Melodies, Maleficent surveyed her new domain with a cool gaze. This castle was perfect, she noted with a satisfied smile, stroking the crystal orb mounted on the top of her staff. The grand, looming structure suited a sorceress of her stature, and the secluded world meant that she would not be bothered. Unless, that was, the idiot Keybearer chose to put in an appearance.

Sora. Her lips curled into a snarl at the thought of the bumbling brunette youth who always appeared to ruin her plans. She had ended up working as his inadvertent ally to claim this castle, but the need for that had thankfully passed, and she could return to plotting her revenge. And now she had a plan that would allow her to punish Sora's impudence and grant her the awesome power she longed for. She would summon Kingdom Hearts, and this time no fool with a Keyblade would stop her from accessing its power.

"Maleficent?" Pete, the dog who assisted her, peeked into the room, giving her a sycophantic smile and a half-hearted wave. She gave him a cool look in return. He had proved to be a weak-minded coward, and Sora had overcome him at every turn. Like all of those she had allied with at one time or another, he had been a disappointment. This time, incompetent help would not allow Sora an easy victory. As the saying went, good help was hard to find, but she felt fairly certain she had devised a fitting solution.

"What?" she asked coldly, finally acknowledging his presence. At least his cowardice and incompetence wouldn't bother her much longer.

"Some of those weird white things are back," he explained, a slight tremor in his voice. He pointed up to the balcony that wrapped around the room. Three of the white creatures—the Nobodies—that had served the Organization bobbed there. Maleficent snapped her fingers, and several Shadow Heartless appeared at her feet.

"Hear me, Heartless," she instructed. "Attack the white creatures!" The Heartless obeyed, scurrying up the wall to face their target. After the Organization had been defeated, she had summoned a huge army of Heartless and sent them throughout the world to eradicate any of the strange creatures that remained. Despite her efforts, she had yet to annihilate the pesky creatures. The Nobodies weren't especially intelligent, but they were strong, and it took several Heartless to destroy just one.

Having dealt with that nuisance temporarily, Maleficent decided to implement her plan. After all, the sooner she began, the sooner she could obtain her goal, and the less opportunity the Keybearer would have to finish licking his wounds and meddle in her plans once again. "Stand back," she ordered, raising her staff above her head, the sleeves of her robe billowing impressively. Pete cowered back, needing no second warning. She struck the end of her staff against the floor, hard. A circle of inky blackness spread out around her staff, expanding over the white marble of the floor.

"Hey, uh, Maleficent?" Pete ventured. "What're you doing?"

"Patience," she advised with a small smile, waiting. In a few seconds, nine dark spheres burst out of the pool of blackness on the floor. The spheres dissolved to reveal nine black-coated figures, standing in front of her in a semicircle. Competent help had arrived.

Kanixa's eyes widened, and she let out an involuntary gasp as Riku led them into the royal ballroom. It was an enormous, oval room with a floor made entirely of gleaming white marble. Elaborate Corinthian columns held up a balcony circled half the room, providing a partial second storey.

Axel glanced down at her, raising his eyebrows. He hadn't pegged her for the easily impressed type, and yet it seemed that everything about this castle amazed her.

"It's beautiful," she explained in a whisper.

"Eh, the one at the Beast's Castle is better. We'll have to go some time," he replied. "Some time when the Beast isn't likely to mind us…borrowing…it."

"I take it the Beast isn't fond of intruders?" Kanixa asked, voice rising nervously. The Beast's Castle was one of the worlds she had yet to visit, but if the Beast that ruled the world was so fierce, maybe she was better off giving that one a miss.

"We'll get Sora to smooth things over for us," Axel said confidently. "I'm sure he and the Beast are good buddies by now," he added, a hint of exasperation in his tone. "Sora has that effect on people."

At the center of the room, King Mickey and Queen Minnie stood waiting, flanked by Donald and—what was this? The surly mage had a lady duck? What could she possibly see in him? Axel wondered, before dismissing the question as not one worth wasting his brain power on—and Goofy. The knight stood alone, and in full armor. That couldn't be comfortable.

"Your Majesties," Riku greeted the King and Queen, bowing formally.

"Gosh, Riku, it's good to see you," the King declared, smiling up at him. "Sorry you didn't have much time to rest after defeating the Organization. None of you did," he added, looking up to address Axel, Kanixa, and Demyx. "So we thought we'd throw you a victory celebration. We couldn't have done it without you," he said solemnly.

"Thank you, your Majesty," Kanixa said, using her hold on Axel's arm as a balance as she attempted a curtsy. Demyx gave the King a deep nod, keeping his face blank, but Axel could see from the rebellious glint in his eyes that the sitar player found the monarch's statement as ridiculous as Axel himself did. The King certainly couldn't have done it without them, because they'd been the ones to do all the work! Where had Mickey been when they'd taken down Xigbar, or Luxord, or Saïx?

"The refreshments are over there," Mickey said, gesturing to a table laden with what looked to be every finger food imaginable, and several flavors of punch, "so help yourselves. And in a minute, the music'll start." He glanced over to where some ponderous machine sat in a corner. Axel raised his eyebrows—were those two _chipmunks_ manning the controls?

Suddenly, the machine started spitting smoke—and sparks. One chipmunk put out the smoldering mess with a miniature fire extinguisher, while the other one scampered over to Mickey. "Sorry, your Majesty," it panted, "it looks like all the bugs aren't out of me 'n' Chipper's new MusicoSymphonium."

"That's all right. We'll just have to think of another way to get music for tonight." Mickey put a hand to his forehead, apparently thinking intently. "Hmm…"

"I could play," Demyx volunteered, brightening at the prospect of being able to play. He'd learned the hard way what would happen if he started composing around Axel.

"Would you?" the Queen asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Sure." Demyx positioned himself in a corner of the room not occupied by the still-smoking machine. Summoning his sitar, he began to play a slow tune, good for dancing to.

"Great. Once Sora and Kairi show up, we can get underway!" the King declared.

"Looks like—" Axel began, glancing down at Kanixa with a smirk on his face, but his eyes widened in surprise when she wasn't there. "Huh?" He glanced around the room to see her talking with Goofy.

"It's good to see ya, Kanixa," the knight was saying when Axel drew up to their little conversation, "You weren't looking so good after the battle," he commented, normally cheerful expression turning solemn.

"I'm all right now," Kanixa assured him with a smile.

"Well, aren't you two looking friendly," Axel commented, inserting himself into the conversation, keeping his face carefully blank. Again, what was with Kanixa? Normally the dog and the duck grated on her nerves just as much as they did his.

"Gawrsh, Axel. That's because we're friends now!" Goofy said, sounding surprised. "Even though you're Nobodies and all, we still saved the worlds together!"

"Friends, huh?" Axel muttered, not at all pleased with that turn of events. He and Goofy might be allies for now, that was true, but if the knight thought that would make them pals, he was dead wrong.

"So," Kanixa said, giving Goofy a pleasant smile. "I'm sure you're glad to be home after roaming the worlds with Sora for so long."

"Well…" Goofy sounded sheepish. "It is good to be back, but to tell ya the truth, I miss the road."

"If it's adventure you're looking for, we may all get it," Axel said flatly. "The King made Maleficent sound like quite the formidable opponent. Maybe you could tell us more about her." He pinned Goofy with an intent stare.

"Well, uh, let's see. Maleficent's a powerful sorceress. At first she just wreaked havoc on her homeworld, but then she got more ambitious. About two years ago, she launched a plan to seize Kingdom Hearts for herself, using the Princesses of Heart."

"Go on," Axel said, nodding. Kanixa looked baffled—that's right, all of this would be before her time. He would explain it to her later…if he was feeling generous.

"But Sora and Donald and I put a stop to her. Then last year she tried again, but the Organization got in the way. Maleficent is determined to get to Kingdom Hearts, no matter what. And that's why we've gotta make sure she isn't gonna cause any more trouble!" Goofy declared, eyes narrowing in determination.

"The Organization…" Kanixa repeated, brow furrowing. "If the Organization has had run-ins with Maleficent, why didn't I hear about her?"

"It was before your time," Axel replied. "Besides, I wouldn't call it a run-in. She just realized that her Heartless were no match for our Nobodies. So. Goofy," he said, returning to the matter at hand. "What do you know about what Maleficent's up to this time?"

"Just what the King told you. We've been gettin' reports of huge swarms of Heartless on the World that Never Was. We just want to make sure Maleficent's not up to her old tricks."

"So there's nothing else we need to know about her? She doesn't have any known accomplices?" Axel pressed.

"Oh, there's Pete, but we know him from way back," Goofy said dismissively. "He always causes trouble, but he's nothing to worry about."

A white-glove hand landed on Kanixa's shoulder. Eyes narrowing, Axel turned to tell its owner that he had best move it before he found it sliced off by a chakram, but Sora was already lifting the offending hand in a friendly wave. "Hey. Why are you all talking business at a party?" he asked.

"Just making sure I have all my bases covered. I haven't dealt with Maleficent before," Axel replied.

"Well, she's bad news," Sora began musingly, but then he brightened, jabbing himself in the chest with a thumb. "But she's nothing we can't handle!"

"Oh, really?" Axel smirked down at the Keyblade master. Sora didn't rise to the bait, an unusually serious expression on his face. "Really, Riku knows the most about her…but I don't think he'd be the guy to ask. He's…sensitive about that kind of thing."

"Interesting," Axel murmured, turning a sharp gaze on Riku. The silver-haired boy currently stood over by the refreshment table, a glass of disconcertingly blue punch in his hand—really, it looked like something you might have found in Vexen's lab. Well, he didn't care what Riku might be "sensitive" about. If the Keybearer had information that would be vital to understanding this current mission, then he was going to share it. One way or another.

But first things first. Axel glanced down at Kanixa. "So, since the King did go to the trouble of throwing us this ball…do you want to dance?" He held out a hand to her expectantly.

Kanixa paled. "Axel, I already told you—" she hissed.

"Just trust me," he cut her off. Sighing, she put her hand in his, and he led her out onto the dance floor. A few couples were already circling the room in a graceful waltz—at least, he thought it was a waltz. He'd claimed knowledge of dancing earlier, but really all he had were second-hand memories from Lea, of that unfortunate month or so when he'd been enrolled in _charm school_. It was still enough to make him inwardly bristle with indignation. Charm school was hardly a suitable pastime for the boy who would go on to become the Flurry of Dancing Flames! Except, of course, it would help him to points with Kanixa.

Demyx, who played near the area designated as the dance floor, glanced up at their approach. As Axel led Kanixa over to the edge of the dance floor, he noticed that the music deftly segued into a slower, more romantic song. Could Demyx actually be trying to help him? That would be generous, considering all the abuse he'd heaped on the sitar player in the past…turning his thoughts back to the matter at hand, Axel turned Kanixa to face him. "What now?" she asked, sounding nervous.

"It's easy. Put a hand on my shoulder." Kanixa obeyed, withdrawing the hand that he held and balancing it on his right shoulder with the barest of touches. After she'd done that, Axel snaked an arm under hers to rest a hand lightly on her waist. Then he took her free hand and laced her fingers with his, raising their joined hands to about shoulder height. "See? That's all there is to it."

"Not true," she replied, still looking pale. "We may look good just standing here, but what happens when we move? What if I step on your toes?"

"Relax," Axel ordered, raising the hand he had placed on her waist to brush it across her cheek. "Now," he instructed, taking her waist again so that they were posed correctly, "just follow me. If I step back—" He took a step backwards to demonstrate—"you step with me." Kanixa took a little baby step forward, closing the distance between them. "And when I step forward—" He took a step forward and Kanixa tried to step backwards, but her legs got tangled in her voluminous skirt. She gave a squeak , nearly toppling into Axel. "Okay, that one will take some work," he said, sounding amused, helping her right herself.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Kanixa said, a blush growing in her cheeks. "Everyone will laugh."

"Tell you what. You won't even have to do any fancy backwards steps. You just have to follow my lead."

Kanixa exhaled slowly. "All right. I'll do it," she said, raising her chin and squaring her shoulders, looking as bleakly determined as if she'd just agreed to challenge Saïx to single combat**.**

"Good." And with that, they joined in the dance.

Kanixa's face screwed up into a frown of intense concentration as she followed Axel's lead. So far he was keeping his word, doing all the steering and not making her take any backwards steps. Still, this dancing was hard work! Why had she ever thought it might be fun to try?

"Relax, Nixa." She glanced up to see Axel looking down at her with an amused expression. "This is supposed to be fun, not rocket science."

"Speaking of fun, I wouldn't have thought you liked dancing," Kanixa said, watching his face while she waited for an answer.

"I don't. But the present company makes it all worth it," Axel replied with a smirk.

"But where did you learn?" Kanixa asked. "It's kind of an odd thing for you to know, you have to admit."

"That's a secret I'm taking with me to the grave," he said darkly, leading her in a turn—probably to get her to drop the subject and leave her too occupied with following him to ask more, Kanixa thought. Luckily for him, it worked—she nearly tripped trying to keep up with him. When she glanced up at him accusingly, he merely smirked down at her with amusement in his eyes.

"It's not me!" she grumbled. "Well, it's not all me," she corrected when his smirk only grew. "It's the shoes! What made them think I would be able to dance in these ridiculous heels?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that the ability to wear heels is supposed to be natural to the female gender?" Axel replied. "I guess you missed out on that gene, huh?"

"Keep talking and see whether you get another dance with me tonight," Kanixa huffed.

"And who else would you dance with?" Axel inquired, eyes glinting. He gestured at the dance floor with their joined hands. "The only people I see free are the sentient brooms. And Riku," he added as an afterthought. "But between you and me, I think a broom might make a better dancing partner."

"Axel!" She swatted him on the shoulder.

The music slowed even further—maybe Demyx was watching her horribly inept dancing and taking pity on her? Axel slowed his steps accordingly, making it much easier for her to keep up. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the other dancing couples were drawing closer together, until the dance became practically a moving embrace while the partners moved in a slow circle. So should she follow suit? Slowly, Kanixa moved to rest her head on Axel's chest, waiting to see how he reacted. Hopefully he would tell her if she was making some sort of giant faux pas.

Axel didn't reply, but adjusted their stances so that she had both hands on his shoulders and he had both arms around her waist, pulling her closer in. Clearly that meant he was okay with this arrangement. Kanixa allowed herself to relax, breathing in his unique scent: part cinnamon, and part smoke. "This is nice," she sighed.

"Very," she heard Axel murmur in reply. For a while—it could have been a few minutes, or it could have been an hour—they just danced in companionable silence. Then the music sped up again, and Kanixa stepped back, surprising herself when she felt a twinge of regret at having to let go.

Axel moved them back to their original placement, transitioning back to this faster beat without a hiccup. "Well, would you look at that?" he asked, leaning down to murmur in Kanixa's ear.

Following his gaze, Kanixa saw that a laughing Kairi was dragging Riku out on the dance floor. She actually felt a bit sorry for the silver-haired Keyblade wielder—he wore an expression like his fingernails were being pulled out one by one.

"You have to dance at least once, silly!" Kairi was saying. "And Sora wanted to get some punch anyway."

Kanixa glanced over at the refreshment table, and she could see out of the corner of her eye that the Keyblade master, assisted by one of the sentient brooms, had made himself a plate piled high with the various desserts.

She shifted her attention back to Riku and Kairi. Riku was currently allowing Kairi to show him the correct way to hold her, and he still looked pained.

"He's actually going along with it," Axel murmured. "I thought he'd have more spine than that," he added a bit condescendingly.

"I could actually see him being coerced into dancing, but not you," Kanixa said, turning to smile at Axel…and nearly bumping noses with him. When did he get so close? "I guess I was wrong, huh?"

"The things I do for love," Axel sighed, shaking his head in mock-sorrow. Kanixa's eyes widened, and she felt color rise into her cheeks. Axel wasn't one to throw around words lightly. So did he really mean…?

Before she could even complete the thought, his lips were on hers. After the initial shock, Kanixa decided to sit back and enjoy the sensation.

Axel pulled away quickly, and Kanixa was surprised to feel a flash of disappointment. She knew that she must be blushing from the heat in her face. "W-what was that for?" she stammered.

"Are you all right? You look a bit flustered," Axel pointed out, smirking.

"It'll take more than just one kiss from you to fluster me," she snapped. She tried to pull out of his hold, but he just tightened his grip.

"What's gotten into you?" he demanded, glaring down at her. "It was just a joke. I didn't mean to make you angry," he added, glancing off to the side, tone turning sheepish.

"I…I'm sorry. I think I just need to sit down," Kanixa replied, a tremor of uncertainty in her voice. In addition to feeling warm, she felt a bit dizzy, and she could hear a faint ringing in her ears. It felt almost like when she overexerted herself using her element, which made no sense. She hadn't done anything taxing at all. So why did her legs suddenly feel like they wouldn't support her?

Axel's brow creased into a worried frown as he studied her. "Come on. I think those doors at the end of the room open onto a garden. We can get you some air."

Keeping his arm around his waist to support her, Axel led her over to the doors he'd mentioned. Two sentient brooms guarding them sprang to attention, shoving them open. With a curt nod of thanks at them, Axel led her outside, guiding her to a bench a few yards away.

Kanixa collapsed onto the bench with a sigh of relief, her skirts poofing out around her. For a few seconds she focused on trying to catch her breath. What had happened in there? Axel's kisses might be fluster-worthy, but she didn't just feel flustered—she felt dizzy and drained.

"Are you all right?" Axel asked, clearly impatient for an answer. Despite the gruffness in his tone, she could see the worried glint in his eyes.

"I think so," she sighed. "I just don't feel that well all of a sudden."

"That's descriptive," Axel commented sarcastically, taking a seat beside her. "So? Should I go and ask the King to summon the royal physician or something?"

"No. Just…sit with me for a while?" she asked, glancing up at him.

For a few moments they sat in companionable silence. "You know, maybe this is asking too much of you," Axel said finally, tone unusually serious. "Running off to investigate Maleficent like this. You took some major damage in the fight with Xemnas. You should still be recuperating—"

"So you think I'm going to let you and Demyx run off and have all the fun without me?" she challenged, sitting up straighter.

"Being stuck with Sora and the King's minions for any length of time isn't what I'd call fun. But if you don't feel up to a fight yet, I'll take you back to Hollow Bastion."

"And then ditch me?" she asked, folding her arms.

"And stay with you until you're better! Give me some credit!" Axel snapped, folding his arms.

"…I'm sorry," Kanixa said, ducking her head. Axel put a hand under her chin, raising it until she had to look him in the eyes.

"It's all right. You can make it up to me when you're feeling better," he declared with a smirk.

"What does that mean?" Kanixa asked nervously, leaning away from him a bit.

"Kanixa. Remember what we just discussed about not twisting my words and giving me some credit?" Axel asked, tone ominously silky. "I meant that you get to arrange our next date."

"What do you mean, next date? The coffee shop doesn't count," she continued in a rush when he opened his mouth, "because then you were only pretending to be my boyfriend. So technically we haven't had a first date yet."

Axel spread his arms. "What do you call this?" he demanded, sounding affronted. "I danced with you. I wore _this_—" his tone held infinite amounts of disgust as he gestured at himself—"for you!" It was clear that he considered the latter a greater affront to his dignity.

"A date is something you plan out yourself and then ask someone to. This is just a party we happened to go to together," Kanixa said, doing her best to keep her tone and expression serious. Axel really was taking this way too seriously, and she found it strangely endearing. Plus it was fun to push his buttons for once, instead of him pushing hers. Still, judging from the glare he was shooting her and the rebellious set of his jaw, maybe enough was enough. "And I'm having a really great time," she added softly, reaching out to put her hand on his.

"Well, then. Why ruin a good thing? We can settle the date question later," Axel decided. "And about the other thing." His tone turned serious again.

"What other thing?" Kanixa asked, blinking at him sleepily.

"It looks like we're slated to stay here for a few days," Axel said, not sounding thrilled with the prospect. "But if that's true, I want you taking it easy. No overexerting yourself. That means no training, and absolutely no accessing your element. Got it memorized?" He demanded, pinning her with a stern look.

"Yes, master," she said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Good. I'm glad to see you're getting a handle on how this relationship should work," Axel said with a smirk.

"In your dreams!" Kanixa swatted him on the arm.

Axel got to his feet. "Well, all jokes aside, I think it's time we got you to your room, don't you? Some rest would do you good." He opened a portal, then offered her a hand to take.

"Shouldn't thank the king and queen first?" Kanixa asked. She didn't want to offend their hosts. Still, sleep did sound like an attractive option…

"I'll take care of that for you later. Now, let's get going." Tired of waiting for her to take his hand, he grabbed hers, pulling her into the portal.

"Thanks," she told him when they both stood in the sea of pink frills that was her room. "I don't know what got into me—"

"Don't worry about it. Just get some rest, Nixa," Axel advised, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. "I'll see you in the morning. That's when the fun will start."

"I thought you said we were staying here," Kanixa said, frowning. "What's so fun about that?"

"Sora will inevitably get bored and start challenging everyone to training rounds. And it's about time someone took him down a peg." Kanixa could hear the hard smile in his voice.

"Just don't do any permanent damage. He's our friend, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." And with that, Axel vanished into a portal before she could get in so much as a good night. Kanixa rolled her eyes as she proceeded to free herself from the cumbersome ball gown. Axel always had to have the last word. Someday she would have to make sure that she beat him out on that.

Hanging her borrowed gown up in the wardrobe, she traded it out for an almost equally frilly nightgown. After she crawled into the immense princess bed, she fell asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.

Maleficent gazed at the nine figures around her in turn. All of them had thrown back their hoods, and most of them were looking down at themselves with noises of surprise. Doubtless they had thought themselves consigned to Nothingness forever. She allowed herself a half-smile. And that would be why they would be so eager to work for her.

The one exception stood directly in front of her: a man with long, steel-blue hair and an arrogant, yellow-eyed gaze. Two thin slashes of scar formed an 'X' just over the bridge of his nose. He met her gaze squarely. She might have problems controlling this one. But it was time to make herself heard. "Hear me, Organization Thirteen!" she cried, pitching her voice to carry over the din. "I have brought you here to discuss a matter that concerns both of us."

"Oh? And just what would that be?" The lone female in the group, a blonde with two odd strands of flyaway hair that stuck up in front, asked, her sweet tone oozing insincerity.

"We both seek the same thing. Kingdom Hearts," Maleficent explained, still keeping her tone light and reasonable, stroking the crystal knob on top of her staff. "But neither you nor I can hope to obtain it alone."

"What makes you think that we need your help?" a tall, stocky man with black dreadlocks inquired.

"Your leader has fallen. Who do you expect will take his place?" she inquired with a slight, victorious smile.

"I will," the man in front of her declared, unsmiling. And then the objections began.

"You, Saïx?" the oldest of the group, a man with long blonde hair and sparkling green eyes, sneered. "You don't have the seniority!"

"Neither do you," a new speaker, a man with odd pink hair, pointed out levelly. "Xemnas's system of numbers was useless, and didn't allow for talent to rise."

"Oh, and I suppose you want to lead, Marluxia?" derided a short man, barely out of boyhood, with slate-colored hair that hid one eye.

"As I thought," Maleficent broke in, satisfied that her point had been made. "You cannot agree on a leader." She allowed herself a brief, mocking, laugh, but cut it short. "How pitiful. The once mighty Organization reduced to squabbling amongst themselves." Venom filled her tone. She swept over each of them with her cold gaze. Abruptly, she regained her composure. "Very well. I suppose that none of you truly wish to access the power of Kingdom Hearts—"

"And what is it you want in return?" A giant of a man with auburn curls fixed his piercing gaze on her.

"Merely your cooperation." She smiled at him. "Of course, if none of you wish to cooperate, I can return you from whence you came." She raised her staff.

"Very well, witch." Saïx spoke. "You have our cooperation. Be sure you can keep your side of the bargain."

"I will summon Kingdom Hearts," Maleficent assured him with a haughty look. "You will deal with Sora and his friends." Saïx smiled.

"That is a bargain I will enjoy keeping." The entire Organization disappeared into portals, retreating to discuss the position they found themselves in amongst themselves. Maleficent smiled. Minus the fallen Xemnas and the few renegades that traveled with Sora, she now had the formidable Organization XIII under her control. Separately, they had attempted to gain Kingdom Hearts and failed. Together, their success would be assured.


	3. Fireworks

A/N: Here is chapter 3, so read and (hopefully) enjoy! I've been quite busy lately, and expect to be for a while yet, so my updates will probably be slow. Thanks to all who have reviewed on the first two chapters!

Chapter 3: Fireworks

Kanixa lay in bed in a state half between wakefulness and slumber. She could feel the sunlight streaming into the room warming her face, and she could hear the birds chirping, but on the other hand it would be so easy to drift back into blackness…

Rolling onto her stomach, Kanixa pulled the blankets up over her head, blocking out both the sunlight and the chirping. She could feel herself drifting off…

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," a voice murmured in her ear.

Kanixa sat up, throwing her blankets off, looking around with wide eyes. The source of the eerie voice wasn't hard to find: Axel stood by the bed, wearing a smug smile. He was back in his Organization coat, too. No doubt he hadn't wasted any time getting out of the borrowed tuxedo. "What do you want?" she grumbled, brushing her hair out of her face, the better to glare at him.

"I was all for letting you get some rest, so I took the liberty of intercepting your wakeup call this morning. But now it's after noon," Axel explained. "And we have places to be."

"Places to be? You mean it's time for our mission, and everyone's waiting on me?" Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Kanixa leaped to her feet. "Okay, just let me shower and—"

Axel reached out and grabbed one of her elbows as she tried to hurry past him. "Whoa. Not so fast," he said, returning her confused look with a smirk. "You're not late for any mission."

"Then what am I late for?" Kanixa demanded. It was too early in the morning—afternoon—whatever—for his games.

"It's a surprise," Axel replied, releasing her.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time you said that somewhere you were taking me was a surprise, you took me to Halloween Town and set me on fire during a training match."

Axel looked irritated at the reminder, and he opened his mouth for a comeback…then his expression turned sheepish. "Yeah, I guess that was the last time," he muttered, looking away, running a hand through his hair. Turning back to face her, he spread his hands. "Look. Can't we put the past behind us?"

"Maybe. Does this surprise have anything to do with Halloween Town?" Kanixa asked him.

"Nope," Axel replied easily.

"Or fire?" she asked suspiciously.

Now he looked annoyed. "Would it kill you to trust me?" he demanded, throwing up his hands.

"Maybe," she replied, just to needle him, as she crossed to the wardrobe, throwing it open to look over her clothing options for today. She scowled: most of them were frilly dresses.

"Very funny," Axel said sarcastically. "Meet me on the front lawn when you're ready." When Kanixa heard the faint whoosh of a portal opening, she turned around.

"Axel—"

About to step into the portal he'd opened, the redhead paused. "Yeah?" he asked, not looking at her, tone sounding dangerously close to sulky. She considered teasing him about that—but then, teasing him was what had brought this on in the first place.

Hurrying over to stand beside him, Kanixa put a hand on his shoulder. "Of course I trust you," she said softly. "I know you've got my back." With Axel, it was everyone else's backs that she had to worry about…

"That's right. And you've got mine." After a pause, where Kanixa belatedly realized she'd been expected to chime in, he pressed, "Right?"

"Of course!" she said quickly. Axel didn't look appeased, just stared down at her with his most unreadable Nobody face. "Always," she added in a quieter, more fervent tone.

"I'll hold you to that, you know," he said, and while his tone sounded light, the words had the ring of a promise to them…or a threat. Then he smiled down at her, and the moment of oddness was gone. "See you in a few minutes. Don't take too long!" With that, he strode into the portal.

Kanixa hurried through her preparations, showering and choosing the least objectionable dress from the wardrobe. If Axel was already on the touchy side this morning—this afternoon, she corrected herself—keeping him waiting wouldn't be a good idea.

After finishing her morning routine in record time, Kanixa opened a portal out onto the front lawn—even if she knew how to get there by just walking, it would take forever in this maze of a palace. Within seconds she stood on the front lawn, in the midst of all the ugly topiaries.

"Hello? Axel?" she called, taking a few steps forward, glancing around. No reply. No sign of life. Just the topiaries…and along with ugly, they were starting to look downright creepy. In fact ,even with bright sunlight pouring down on the scene, she could swear that some of the animal-shaped ones were watching her…

"Axel?" she tried again, picking a direction and beginning to walk around the circular space. If this was some prank….her train of thought derailed as she tried to think of some adequately horrible punishment to inflict.

"There you are." Whirling towards the sound, Kanixa saw Number Eight leaning against the central topiary, arms folded, staring at her with a smirk. "Took you long enough," he declared, sauntering over to her at a leisurely pace. "But I guess it was worth the wait," he added, gaze drifting obviously over her form.

"Thanks…I guess…" Kanixa muttered, feeling a blush rise to her face as she glanced anywhere but at him. "So. Where are we going?" she asked, pasting a bright smile on her face and trying to conceal the nervousness fluttering to life in her stomach as she looked back at him.

"That would be telling," Axel replied, wearing his most obnoxious smirk. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Fine," she sighed.

"Well. Let's get going. Wouldn't want the show to be over before we get there," Axel said cryptically. Opening a portal with a flick of one wrist, he held his other hand out to her expectantly.

"Wait a minute. You did tell the others we're leaving, right?" Kanixa asked.

"Demyx knows. He'll alert the others if there's any need," Axel said. "Now, come on!" Before she could say anything else, he'd grabbed her by a wrist and tugged her into the portal.

Once they were inside the portal, Axel didn't relinquish his hold. Kanixa tried to tug her arm out of his grip, not liking being towed along like a small child. "I can steer myself, you know," she said pointedly, when freeing herself from Axel's iron grip proved impossible.

Axel halted, glancing over his shoulder at her. "Someone's touchy," he declared. All the same, he changed his grip so that they were holding hands. "Better?" he asked.

"Much." She smiled up at him. Axel smirked back—did he ever smile properly, without that condescending edge?—and resumed walking. Kanixa had to half-jog to keep up with his long-legged stride. He must have noticed this, because he slowed a bit.

"So, why the road trip?" Kanixa asked, cocking her head inquisitively as she looked up at him.

"Well, seeing as the ball didn't meet your exacting qualifications for a date—" Axel gave her a pointed look—"I thought I'd do something that _did _fit the bill."

"Oh." Feeling a bit bashful, Kanixa glanced away at the swirling mists of the realm between worlds. "You know, that wasn't a call to immediate action—"

"Why not? Carpe diem and all that," Axel said, giving her a sidelong glance. "Besides. Admit it, Kanixa. You could use a bit of a break. After all, you haven't had the time to unwind from our first great expedition to save the worlds," he added, tone taking on a sarcastic note. For him, their fight against the Organization hadn't been about the welfare of the worlds at all, Kanixa knew. It had been about protecting himself—and her, too—from the Organization's backlash after they'd left.

"I'm all right. Really," she assured him.

"Really? Because you looked on the puny side yesterday," he said, tone making it clear he didn't believe her. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about," he added when she frowned up at him. "Anyone who tangos with Xemnas is going to come out of it with a few scars."

"Axel I'm _fine_," Kanixa declared, putting a bit of steel behind her words. "Whenever the time comes to go and face Maleficent, I'll be ready."

"Just the same, I want you taking it easy for the next few days. Don't pull that face with me, Nixa," he added, sounding amused, when she scowled at him. "It's what everyone will be doing. Including me." He put his free hand to his chest.

"Come on." Kanixa snorted disbelievingly. "You're not the type to laze around."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Axel said, giving her a crooked smile. "In the Organization, I was famous—or infamous—for spending all of our vacation days napping."

"Wait a minute…we got vacation days in the Organization?" she demanded. "How come I never got one?"

"Because you weren't in the Organization long enough to earn one," Axel replied. "Also," he added more thoughtfully, "by the time you joined, things were already unraveling. You never got a chance to see the Organization at its best—if it could be called that," he added.

"Mmm." Kanixa responded with a noncommittal hum to fill the silence.

"Ah. Looks like we're here," Axel declared, sounding pleased. Opening a portal out, he dragged her through it.

Kanixa followed him through the portal out to his mystery spot—and froze, gaping. They stood at the edge of a huge terrace paved in red tile. Without having to even approach the edge, she had a panoramic view of crowds celebrating in an immense plaza below. Music wafted up to her on the air, and thousands of colored lanterns bobbed in a warm night breeze.

"This place is beautiful," she breathed, looking up at Axel with wide eyes. "Where are we?"

"The Land of the Dragons," he replied. At her confused face—she remembered the Land of the Dragons as a cold, snowy, highly unpleasant place—he smirked. "What, you didn't think there was more to this place than mountains and snow? Last time we came, we tracked Sora up to that summit there."

He pointed with his free hand, and way off in the distance, Kanixa could just make out the shadowy bulk of an immense mountain in the twilight.

"Now, we're in the Imperial City. The Emperor's birthday always makes for a big to-do here. It's worth seeing at least once, wouldn't you say?" He gave her a sidelong look.

"Mm-hmm," she agreed happily,

"Glad to hear it. I wasn't sure if you'd have problems with the whole height thing," Axel said. Finally releasing her hand, he reached up to drape his arm around her shoulders instead. "But you're holding up well."

"Why would I be scared? It's only a terrace. And I'm nowhere near the edge," she pointed out.

Axel opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, looking amused. "Just a terrace. Yeah," he muttered. "So, why don't' we take a seat? The best part should be about to begin."

"Okay…" Kanixa took a seat obediently, shivering as the cold of the tile seeped through her skirt. Sitting, her view of the celebrations below was cut off—now all she could see was the dark sky, lit here and there with bright pinpricks of stars, looming over the far-off mountains. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"You'll see," Axel replied. Glancing over at him, she saw that he'd stretched out full-length, pillowing his head on his arms as he stared up at the sky.

After a few minutes, when Kanixa was beginning to wonder what exactly was so special about looking up at a starry sky when the brightness of the city below made it hard to even see the stars, a high-pitched whistling made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Axel—?" she began to ask, a nervous tremor in her voice, but a huge bolt of light caught her attention as it streaked up into the sky. When it had reached a point far, far above her head, it exploded into a flower-shape of silver and gold that winked for a few minutes before dispersing. A firework.

Just as the last bits of gold and silver faded, the minerals that had made the beautiful display fluttering earthwards, a second firework rocketed up to take its place, this one in shades of green and blue. Kanixa felt a wide smile stretching across her face as she copied Axel's pose, laying flat on her back so she didn't have to crane her neck.

"They're really something, aren't they?" Axel murmured, voice almost lost under the sound of the explosions.

"Yeah," she agreed, eyes riveted to the ongoing display in the sky. For a while she just watched the procession of colors and shapes—a deep magenta firework that exploded into the shape of a butterfly, a silver one in the shape of a star. But eventually she noticed that Axel's gaze wasn't on the sky, but on her—she could feel the weight of it.

Kanixa turned her head to ask him what was on his mind—and found herself nose to nose with him once again. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. And she was beginning to think he was arranging things that way. "Penny for your—" she began, wincing as a nervous quiver worked its way into her voice, but he cut her off.

"You know, there's a legend about how two people can find out if they're meant to be together," he murmured, green eyes boring into hers intently.

"Oh?" Kanixa asked, though she knew a response probably wasn't required on her part. She never could seem to resist nervous babble. "And what is that, exactly?"

"They kiss." And before Kanixa could react, his lips were on hers. When he pulled back a moment later, he was smirking. "So, tell me. Do you see fireworks?" he muttered, sounding far too pleased with himself.

Kanixa's nervousness melted away, and for a second she could only stare at him. "Wow," she sad finally, shaking her head. "That's got to be the worst pickup line I've ever heard." Sitting up, she folded her arms. "And I bet you've been waiting to say that all evening, haven't you?" she asked, giving him a teasing smile.

"Well? You see fireworks, don't you?" Axel challenged, pointing up at the sky. "So that proves it. You're into me," he insisted, giving her a cocky grin.

"You really are full of yourself, you know that?" Kanixa muttered.

"But you know you wouldn't want me any other way," Axel replied, sitting up, the better to smirk at her.

"Oh, I don't know about that," she replied, giving him a pointed look. Axel's smirk melted into an affronted look, but before he could say anything, both of them noticed that the noise from the courtyard below had taken on a decidedly different quality.

The music screeched to a halt, and instead of laughter, the breeze carried to their ears screams of terror.

"What the-?" Axel muttered. Climbing to his feet, he walked over to the edge of the terrace, looking down. Kanixa followed a second behind. Together, they surveyed the scene below.

"Heartless," Kanixa breathed, watching in horror as the shadowy monsters weaved in and out of the crowd, pausing only to set on some unlucky citizen and claim their heart.

"Lots of them," Axel agreed, eyes narrowing in thought. "I don't like this. They shouldn't swarm like this on their own. Besides, Sora sealed this world's Keyhole…didn't he?" He put his hand to his chin, adopting a musing frown.

"We can worry about why this is happening later!" Kanixa snapped, summoning her Keyblade. "Those people are defenseless." She held out her free hand to call up a portal—and Axel latched onto her wrist.

"Oh, no," he said, shaking his head emphatically. "You're not in shape for a fight. We're getting you out of here. I'll come back and clean up this mess," he added, gesturing over his shoulder at the chaos below with his free hand.

"There's no time for that! These people need help now!" she protested, trying to yank out of his grip.

"That's not my priority," he replied, tone infuriatingly calm. "Keeping you safe is. Now, let's go!" He opened a portal of his own, preparing to pull her into it, but Kanixa dug in her heels, bracing herself against the tile, refusing to move.

"What's the holdup?" Axel demanded, looking back at her, once he noticed the resistance.

"You're out of line," Kanixa declared, tone icy. He opened his mouth to continue, but she cut him off. "No matter what your motive is, you have no right to make decisions for me! Got that memorized?" she asked, pinning him with a stern glare.

Axel blinked, looking taken aback. For a second, his grip on her wrist slackened, and Kanixa pulled free. For a second she wondered if she'd been too harsh with him…no time to worry about that now. She had people to save. "Now," she said in a gentler tone, "are you ready to destroy some Heartless?" She chopped her Keyblade through the air in front of her to demonstrate.

"Oh? Do I have the _right_ to do that?" he asked, the bitterness in his tone taking her aback. Giving him a closer look, Kanixa could see the anger burning in his eyes.

"Axel—"

"Forget it. We'll finish this conversation later. Those people need our help, right?" he asked, face closing off. Before she could say anything else, he'd stepped into the portal that still swirled in front of them.

Kanixa followed him, feeling a sinking sensation in the place where her heart would be. Obviously this argument wasn't going to blow over quickly. Before she could think of something to say that might mollify him, he paused, turning to face her, taking a deep breath.

"Relationships are all about compromise, right?" he began. His smooth tone had an edge to it, like a knife hiding behind silk. "We're doing things your way, joining the battle. So you can do this much for me," he added, tone turning hard. "Stick close. And the minute you feel yourself getting tired, let me know so we can get out of here. Got it memorized?" he asked, summoning his chakrams.

Kanixa nodded.

"Good." As he opened a portal out onto the street, Axel's lips curved upwards into a smirk. "Heh," he laughed to himself, then glanced up at her, smirk growing.

"What's so funny?" Kanixa asked, confused.

"Looks like I'll be getting some action on our first date after all," he explained. Then he dived through the portal before she could actually get a response in.

For a few second she could only stare at the swirling portal, an expression of incredulous disgust on her face, clutching her Keyblade until she held it in a white-knuckled grip of rage. "Axel, you—you disgusting...jerk!" she shrieked, knowing full well he couldn't hear her. He would pay for that later! And he would be lucky to get any "action," as he'd put it, in the next century, at the rate he was going! Of all the infuriating things to say! Why had she ever thought that dating the warped pyromaniac would be a good idea?

Marching through the portal—she was definitely on the warpath now—Kanixa found herself immediately confronted by some flying monster in pink and purple robes. Its yellow eyes glinting with greed at it identified a new target, and its gaping mouth stretched into a grin as it raised huge, clawed hands to swipe at her.

"Not so fast," Kanixa growled. Her second Keyblade appeared in her hands, and a dangerous grin spread across her face as she stared up at this new foe. She might not be able to take it out of Axel's hide for insulting her, but she could certainly take it out of the hides of a few Heartless!

She raised one Keyblade to block the Heartless's downward-sweeping strike, and took advantage of the opening that presented to leap into the air and hit it once, twice, three times with a spinning attack.

Returning to earth, landing in a crouch, Kanixa looked up—to see the Heartless she'd been battling engulfed in flames. Before her eyes, it dwindled away to nothing, leaving a newly freed heart to spiral up into the sky.

"I had it covered," Kanixa growled at Axel, getting to her feet.

"You were taking too long," he informed her, not looking troubled in the least by the death glare he was sending her. "We have a lot more work to do." He gestured around at the Heartless-filled plaza. Most of the people had fled to a safer place by now, but Kanixa could see that an unlucky few still remained, herded into different corners by Heartless.

"All right. You take that way—"

"That's not what we agreed to," Axel said, all the humor going out of his tone. "We stay together."

"But there are too many people who need our help!" Kanixa wailed, throwing out an arm in a gesture that encompassed the entire square. "We can't be in that many places at once…." She paused, a lightbulb practically going off over her head. "Wait. We don't have to be." Closing her eyes and concentrating, she called up her battalion. _Sneaks_, she willed—it still felt silly addressing them in her head. _Destroy the Heartless. Do NOT harm the people with hearts!_

The answer, a multitude of emotionless voices speaking in unison, was immediate. _We obey, liege_. When Kanixa opened her eyes, Sneaks were bounding around the space, most making a beeline for where the Heartless stood poised to make short work of the few people trapped in the square.

"Not bad," Axel commented, seeing her plan in action. Kanixa flinched as Assassins slithered through the ground away from him—one passed inches from her booted foot, a bit of its body protruding through the surface of the ground like a shark's fin. They undulated through the battle until they found a Heartless to appear under-

Kanixa looked away, shuddering. Seeing Axel's battalion in action always made her uneasy.

"Incoming!" Suddenly Axel was shoving her out of the way. The momentum made Kanixa stagger backwards several steps, and ultimately land on her rear. Climbing to her feet, she opened her mouth to tell Axel off—and saw him locked in battle with a giant centaur Heartless that had nearly gored her from behind with its spear.

"Yikes," she breathed, looking at the immense monster with wide eyes. In addition to being huge, it was crafty, for a Heartless. Axel was taking as many hits as he was giving out. Taking up her Keyblades in a firm grip, Kanixa started over to help him—and sank to her knees, fireworks of all colors exploding across her vision. Another centaur Heartless had snuck up on her, and hit her in the head with the butt of its spear.

Kanixa dodge-rolled out of the way, then climbed to her feet, aware she was swaying dangerously. She was also seeing double, and it was making her nauseous. Which Heartless was the real one? She wondered. Oh, whatever. She would just have to hit one and see what happened…

"Kanixa!" Axel shouted, sounding very far off and oddly distorted. Kanixa turned her head towards the sound—and yelped in pain as something hard drove into her ribs, repeatedly. The centaur Heartless was twirling its spear in a circle, blindingly fast, and each time the point came up it crashed into her chest, knocking her higher and higher into the air. It reminded her of something she'd seen on one of her brief visits to Twilight Town—a kid grandstanding, seeing how long he could keep a ball in the air by whacking it repeatedly with a bat. Only this time, she was the ball.

When she finally came back to earth, the shockwave of landing sending a flare of pain through her body, Kanixa bit her lip to keep in a scream. Blackness tugged at her insistently, and she surrendered to it with a grateful sigh. Anything had to be better than being awake…

"…nixa. Kanixa." A voice was drifting into focus, and while it sounded cheerful enough, Kanixa could pick up an undercurrent of worry in it.

Kanixa opened her eyes, though her eyelids felt weighted with lead. A face swam into focus above her, brow knit in a concerned frown, hazel eyes peering worriedly down at her…

"Aerith?" Kanixa asked in surprise. She noticed that her voice sounded a bit rusty, as if she hadn't spoken for a while, and the sour taste of sleep lingered in her mouth. Most importantly, her temples throbbed with an intensity that indicated the headache would be with her for a while. "How did you get here?" Of the Hollow Bastion crew, Aerith was the least likely to go off adventuring, so how had she gotten to the Land of the Dragons?

"You came here," the healer replied, and though she gave Kanixa her customary cheerful smile, the worried line between her eyebrows remained. "Axel brought you. You don't remember?" she asked carefully.

"I remember the Heartless attack," Kanixa said slowly, searching through her memory gingerly. "And then…nothing," she admitted. "So, this is Hollow Bastion? I mean, Radiant Garden?" she corrected, knowing that the town's residents preferred the town's proper name.

"That's right," Aerith replied.

A sharp rap on the door made Kanixa wince—it made the throbbing in her head intensify. To her surprise, Kairi stepped in, holding a jar of something. "Here's the Potion you asked for," she said to Aerith, offering her the bottle.

"Kairi?" Kanixa asked, shocked. If this was Hollow Bastion—Radiant Garden—then what was the Princess of Heart doing here?

At the sound of her voice, Kairi gave a little jump of surprise, putting a hand to her heart. "You're awake?" she asked, giving Kanixa an assessing glance. For once, the redhead's gaze didn't hold any hostility. She actually looked a bit…concerned.

"If you're here…then are Sora and Riku here too?" Kanixa asked. Not that she particularly wanted to see the Keyblade master or his moody friend. She just wanted to know who else might pop in unexpectedly.

"Everyone's here," Kairi explained. "Merlin contacted us on Disney Castle through his magic. When we heard what had happened, we came right away. Well, if you don't need anything else, I'll go," she said to Aerith. The healer shook her head, and Kairi slipped out the door, shutting it behind her.

Kanixa blinked. They had come…because she was hurt? That was unexpected. Of the Destiny Islands trio, she'd thought only Sora held any liking for her at all. And that was only because it seemed to be ridiculously hard to get on his bad side. Case in point, he'd already forgiven Axel for kidnapping his prospective girlfriend.

"What about Demyx?" she asked Aerith.

"He's downstairs," Aerith replied. "I think he's trying to keep an eye on Axel. He's been a bit…touchy," she explained, a flash of something flickering through her eyes. Fear?

Kanixa sighed. If she knew Axel, "touchy" was probably putting his behavior very mildly. And now that she was awake, his anger would be directed straight at her. "I should probably talk to him," she muttered, sitting up—or trying to. A searing pain shot through her ribs, and she sank back onto the pillows, biting her lip to suppress a whimper.

"Careful!" Aerith admonished. "You're not all the way healed yet."

"Well, can you tell Axel I want to see him, then?" Kanixa asked.

"You're still mending. I don't think you should risk being overexcited," Aerith demurred.

The door flew open. Axel stood there, panting slightly from having rushed up the stairs, gaze locked on Kanixa. She shrank back a little further into the pillows, wilting under the intensity of his glare. No, this would not be a pleasant conversation.

Aerith took one look at Axel and said diplomatically, "I think I'll just…step outside. Kanixa, remember to take that Potion, all right?"

"I will," Kanixa promised, giving her the brightest smile she could muster. "Thanks, Aerith."

Axel stepped aside to let the healer pass, then came into the room, shutting the door. Kanixa felt a sinking sensation in her abdomen as he locked it, the bolt clicking into place audibly. "Just so we won't have any interruptions," he said darkly.

"Axel," she greeted him, swallowing nervously.

"Do you know how long you've been asleep?" he asked, coming to stand beside the bed. Folding his arms across his chest, he glared down at her as he waited for an answer.

"A day?" Kanixa asked hopefully. That seemed like the shortest reasonable answer, as somehow Sora and Co. had arrived while she was sleeping. The shorter the time span, the less time they would have wasted worrying over her when they could be stopping Maleficent. And the less right Axel would have to be angry with her.

"Try three," Axel snapped. "Three days, and I've had to sit down there twiddling my thumbs and wondering if—" he cut himself off, taking a deep breath.

"Axel," Kanixa said softly, wearing a concerned frown. He didn't have to finish the sentence to get his meaning across. "I—"

"I'm not finished!" he snapped, the anger in his tone taking her aback. "All of this could have been avoided if you had just listened to me back there!"

Kanixa locked her jaw. Interrupting again would probably do her more harm than good at the moment. But had he really come up here just to harangue her? A "Glad you're alive, Kanixa," would have been nice!

"You knew you weren't battle-ready yet! But you just had to go fight the Heartless, didn't you?" he accused.

"Those people needed my help!" Kanixa snapped, unable to keep silent any longer. "Is wanting to help them so wrong?"

"Sora really has rubbed off on you. And not for the better," Axel declared, voice cold. "You run around with these lofty goals of saving the worlds, all in the name of pretending that you still have a heart. Well, when you're jumping through hoops to fit in with those with hearts, do you ever stop and think about what that does to the rest of us?" He drooped slightly, expression turning glum. "What it does to me?"

"…I'm sorry," Kanixa whispered.

"You're just like Roxas. You both think that you can do whatever you want! Well, I'm sick of it!" Axel declared, leaning forward as his voice gained both volume and intensity, throwing up his hands in frustration.

"Fine! If the sight of me makes you so sick, then go somewhere else!" Kanixa shouted at him. Turning her face to the side, away from him, she blinked to clear eyes that felt suddenly full. So, Nobodies could cry? More importantly, she was about to embarrass herself by letting him make her cry?

"Kanixa?" Axel sounded gruff, but she heard an undercurrent of worry in his tone. Why couldn't he have worried about her before, instead of yelling at her? "Wait a minute…are you—" he asked, sounding shocked.

"Just stop. Please," she whispered, closing her eyes in an attempt to hold back the inevitable. It was no good—she could feel a drop of moisture spill out of the seal her eyelids made and roll down her cheek. She reached up a hand to swipe it away.

"Kanixa…" She could feel the mattress give as he sat down beside her. Tentatively, his hand stroked over her hair. "I'm sorry. I guess I was out of line this time, huh?" he asked, sounding rueful.

"You think?" she demanded, loading her voice with scorn.

"It just was scary, okay?" Axel demanded, sounding irritated at having the admission pulled out of him. "Not knowing if you were going to make it. It…didn't feel good."

Kanixa turned to face him, only to see him studying the pattern in the quilt with a glum expression. For once, Axel didn't look anything like his normal cocky self. In addition to the tattoos, his eyes had dark circles under them, and even his hair seemed to droop.

"You don't look too good, either," she commented. "Have you been sleeping?"

"Hey!" Ego pricked, Axel gave her an affronted look. "Is that any way to talk to your rescuer?"

Someone knocked softly on the door, a sound so quiet that Kanixa almost missed it. That could only mean one person: Aerith.

"Guess I'd better let her in before she gets separation anxiety," Axel grumbled, getting to his feet, evidently having reached the same conclusion.

Once he'd unbolted the door, Aerith slipped through. "Axel? I'm sure you want to catch up, but Kanixa really does need her rest…"

"Guess I'll get out of her hair, then. For a while, anyway," Axel added, glancing over his shoulder at Kanixa. He started out the door, but paused with one foot over the threshold. "Thanks," he told Aerith gruffly. Before the healer could say anything in response, he had vanished down the stairs.

Aerith gestured at the bottle still sitting on the bedside table. "Why don't you go ahead and take that, and try to get a nap in?"

Kanixa obeyed, unscrewing the Potion's cap and downing the thick, sticky liquid with a grimace. When she finished, she noticed that her eyelids felt strangely heavy…

"You casted Sleep on me," she accused the healer.

"Just try to rest, okay?" Aerith's voice sounded strangely far away and distorted, like it was trying to reach her through some barrier. Kanixa's eyes flickered closed…


	4. Let The Games Begin

A/N: Hello, everyone! Sorry to take so long to update, but this summer was a busy one, and now that college has started back up I'll still have my hands full. This chapter is a short one, really to let you know I'm not dead and I regret not updating in a while. But I'm already working on the next segment, so hopefully I'll be more prompt with the next chapter.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and kept up with this story!

Chapter 4

Axel shifted for the fourth time in ten minutes, but no matter how he moved, the springs in Leon's decrepit, sagging sofa stabbed into his bony frame. Finally he sat up, abandoning the idea of sleep altogether. Besides his less-than-comfortable sleeping spot, he couldn't allow himself to sleep under Leon's roof. He didn't like leaving himself vulnerable around someone he didn't trust, and he certainly didn't trust Leon. The Gunblade wielder had never warmed up to him.

Green eyes narrowing in a squint, Axel glanced across the room at the tiny nook that passed for Leon's kitchen. In glowing green numbers, the clock on the stove heralded the coming of a new hour, the time ticking from 2:59 to 3 am. Well, that certainly left him a lot of time to kill. Even Leon, early riser that he was, didn't get up until 6:30. So, either he could spend the time here counting the hours and twiddling his thumbs, or he could go and see how Kanixa was doing.

If she would even speak to him, that was.

Axel ran a hand through his spiky hair sheepishly, a rare look of self-doubt flickering across his face. He'd handled his earlier conversation with Kanixa badly. He hadn't meant to let loose on her, not originally, but three whole days of putting up with Aerith's unexpected dragon side—no matter what tactic Axel tried, she wouldn't let him near Kanixa's room. She'd even taken to sleeping there to make sure that Axel couldn't portal in on the sly—suspicious glares from Leon, and pitying looks from just about everyone else, his temper had reached the end of its (short) tether. And Demyx had been wise enough to steer clear of him throughout the whole ordeal, so when a target for his bad mood had presented itself…

His bony shoulders rose and fell in a sigh. That always seemed to happen. Whenever it really mattered, and he really needed to get the point across to someone he cared about, his temper always seemed to get the best of him.

Axel got to his feet decisively. Well, there was nothing for it. He would have to swallow his pride and make the supreme sacrifice: actually apologize. With a flick of one wrist, he opened a portal. A few seconds later, the last wisps of dark energy faded away in front of him, leaving him standing in her room. A shaft of light from the full moon outside gave plenty of light, so that he could clearly see the empty bed.

Great. So, the recovering invalid had decided to go for a moonlit stroll. If that was all there was to it. And with all the suspicious coincidences starting to line up—reports of Maleficent summoning Heartless, and Heartless popping up all over the worlds—he had to suspect otherwise.

"Don't believe this," Axel sighed, crossing to the door with quick, silent steps. Opening it just enough to slip through, he glanced down the hall. No Kanixa. Taking the stairs two at a time, focus on speed rather than stealth now, he was on the first floor in a matter of seconds.

He scanned the living room quickly. No sign of Kanixa. Wait—his eyes narrowed as he saw a flicker of white disappear into the kitchen. He followed it as quickly and quietly as he could, and in the blink of an eye he was peering through the kitchen door to see—

Kanixa, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as she froze with one hand on the refrigerator door's handle. "Axel!" she gasped, moving that hand to press it over the space where her heart would be. "You startled me."

"Out for a midnight snack, hmm?" Axel asked, covering up his inward feeling of relief by taking up his customary lounging pose as he leaned against the door frame, folding his arms across his chest as he cocked his head at her. "Well, give or take a few hours," he added, gesturing at the clock above the stove with one hand.

"What? I'm _hungry,_" Kanixa said defensively. "If what you said is right, then I haven't eaten in three days—"

"No need to get huffy. I was just asking," Axel said, voice trailing off into a mutter towards the end as he turned his head to stare at the space in front of him, the sort of stare that might peel the paint from the stretch of door frame he currently glowered at. So, she was still angry with him. Great.

"Hey…" Kanixa put her hand on his arm, and Axel glanced up sharply, surprised. "Are you all right?" she asked, peering up into his face with a concerned look.

"Never better," he replied, giving her his usual cocky smirk. "But, uh, Nixa, listen—" he began, making the awkward beginning to a segue into the apology he'd come to deliver. "About earlier—"

"Don't worry about it," she cut him off, giving him a somewhat tentative smile. "It's not a big deal."

"I was just worried about you. And…I'm sorry."

"Well, well. The great Axel is actually apologizing," Kanixa said, a more genuine smile spreading across her face. "I'm flattered."

"Don't expect it to happen again, if this is the result I get," Axel complained, folding his arms across his chest and glancing away in a pose that might have been called sulky—if anyone was brave enough to risk a barrage of flames.

"I'm sorry," Kanixa said quickly, looking contrite. "So, what's the word on this big mission the King wanted us to go on? I missed that meeting—"

"And so did the rest of us. When I brought you here, it scared your little friends enough that they panicked and called Sora."

"Oh. Sorry." Kanixa ducked her head, a guilty expression flickering across her face.

"Please. You did us a favor," Axel said, trying to cheer her up. "No one wanted to be stuck at Disney Castle a minute longer than we had to be. At least you got us a little reprieve."

"Maybe." Kanixa turned her attention back to the refrigerator. She opened it slowly, as if afraid of what might be on the other side.

"Afraid something will jump out at you?" Axel teased.

"It depends. If Yuffie's been doing the cooking, maybe," Kanixa said grimly.

"Good point. But I think Leon's taken over. So you should be safe." As Kanixa pulled a slice of cold pizza out of the fridge, inspecting it from all angles with a suspicious frown on her face, he allowed his thoughts to wander.

Once Kanixa was well enough to travel—and he would be making that call, not Aerith. She didn't just need to be sound enough for a little pleasure jaunt. With Heartless inexplicably popping up among the worlds, she needed to be battle-ready—they needed to return to Disney Castle.

Axel was suddenly more than a little curious about what King Mickey had to say. In fact, he had several pressing questions for the King. And he felt certain he wouldn't like the answers.

Ever since he'd seen the swarm of Heartless in the Land of the Dragons, the pessimistic part of him—the realist part—had known. This couldn't just be a freak occurrence. Once more, something—or someone—was playing with the balance of Light and Darkness in the worlds. No doubt the Keyblade Master and those tied to him would soon find themselves snarled in the heart of the matter. And Sora would need competent help to avoid hopelessly bungling the situation.

If it were anyone else, Axel would just take Kanixa and Demyx—Kanixa would balk at leaving him behind, and at times it was handy to have another fighter around—and leave now, find a place to lay low until the worst blew over. But…he couldn't leave Sora in the lurch. The kid had started to grow on him, and besides, he carried valuable cargo locked away inside him.

He sighed, shaking his head. _The things I do for you, Roxas_.

* * *

Demyx cracked an eye open at the faint noise of someone stirring on the floor above him, the muffled thud of footsteps audible through the ceiling. He'd always been a light sleeper—a necessary survival skill in the Organization—but the tense atmosphere here on Radiant Garden had made him especially wary.

Tempers had been on edge here the past few days. Ever since Axel had burst into Aerith and Yuffie's living room uninvited, holding a limp Kanixa in his arms and looking as though he would incinerate the first person who made the mistake of getting in his way. Not that he'd been around for that, but he'd overheard Yuffie's dramatic retelling to a rapt audience of Sora and his sidekicks.

But most of the worry seemed directed at the possible resurgence of a Heartless threat. Demyx's face rearranged itself into a scowl as he got to his feet, stretching the kinks out of his muscles. The sofa in the little study off of Leon's front room had to be the worst place to spend the night ever—though Axel claimed that the longer couch in the front room, where the former Number Eight slept, was just as bad.

People with hearts could be so selfish and mercenary. They could act as callously as the worst Nobody, and no one would bat an eye. Right now, the Radiant Garden crew were so wrapped up in their horrible memories of the first time the Heartless had invaded their home that no one seemed to remember the fact that a girl who had once been one of them was stuck in Aerith's guest room, still an invalid after her run-in with the Heartless in the Land of the Dragons.

Pausing only to smooth out his sleep-rumpled Organization coat, Demyx headed for the front door of Leon's house. Before most of the townies were awake, he would find an out-of-the-way corner of the town to practice some tunes on his sitar, safe from both the Restoration Committee's suspicious stares and the wrath of a worried Axel. The Flurry of Dancing Flames wasn't above picking fights just as an excuse to vent some steam, and Demyx had no intention of turning into Axel's stress-relieving punching bag.

A few steps out into the small square where all of the Restoration Committee lived, Demyx paused, blue eyes widening in surprised recognition. "Nixa!" Face spitting into a wide grin, he launched himself at his best friend.

"Demyx," Kanixa laughed, returning hug. "Easy on the enthusiasm, okay? I'm still not 100 percent yet—" The smile disappeared from her face, and she cast her eyes around nervously. "Don't tell Axel I said that. He and Aerith are the biggest mother hens—"

Demyx snorted at that. If anyone had told him a few months ago that the Flurry of Dancing Flames, the loose cannon that even the leadership in the Organization had feared, could have an overprotective streak, Number Nine would have told them to get their head examined. But that was before Kanixa had joined up. "Where is Axel, anyway?" Demyx asked, a noticeable amount of enthusiasm leaching out of his voice at the mention of the redhead.

Kanixa shrugged. "I haven't seen him in a while. I'm sure he's lurking somewhere."

"Maybe he's right behind you." Demyx spun around to see Axel half-standing, half-leaning against the front of Merlin's house in his typical slouching pose. He'd stood in shadow, so Demyx had missed him, even with that shock of red hair. His face was closed off, giving no indication of how much of the conversation he'd heard or what he'd thought of it.

"And who says I lurk?" Axel asked, strolling over to join them. He gave Kanixa an affronted look. "Lurking is for wimps. I prowl."

Kanixa put a hand to her mouth in an attempt to mask her giggle. "Whatever you say."

"So, what's with the lurking—I mean, prowling," Demyx corrected himself at a glare from Axel.

"You don't think the Heartless will come here next, do you?" Kanixa asked before Axel could reply, eyes widening in alarm.

"Maybe," was Number Eight's less-than-comforting answer. "I do know one thing. I want to find out what's going on here. If we're about to have a full-scale war between Light and Darkness again, I want to know about it before all hell breaks loose."

"Who said anything about a war? Can't you be optimistic for once?" Kanixa gave Axel a light swat on the forearm.

"No," Axel replied. "Optimism is dangerous. Going around with my head in the clouds only means I won't be paying attention when someone rips it off."

"Gross, Axel." Kanixa made a face. "Besides, that's not always true! Look at Sora!"

Demyx snorted. "Sora isn't just optimistic, he's clueless. How many times have we had to save his bacon?"

"Fine. You two go on being all doom and gloom. But I'm going to hope for the best," Kanixa declared, before flouncing back into Aerith and Yuffie's house for breakfast.

Once she was gone, Demyx gave Axel an assessing glance. "So if someone's playing with the balance of the worlds, who do you think we're dealing with? Who has that kind of power?"

"Beats me," Axel said gloomily. "Maleficent's not who she used to be. And the Organization's gone. I didn't think anyone with enough juice to raise another Kingdom Hearts was left—"

"Who said anything about Kingdom Hearts?" Demyx broke in.

"Use your brain, Demyx," Axel scoffed. "Whenever something major goes on, Kingdom Hearts is always right at the center of it. All that power is just too tantalizing for anyone to pass up for long. The strength of all the free hearts of the universe…" He trailed off, a speculative gleam in his eyes. "Who knows? Under different circumstances, I might've taken a crack at it myself."

"At least we know who it's not," Demyx said, trying to look on the bright side. "Maleficent doesn't have the energy for such a monumental task, and the Organization is gone."

"Thank goodness for that," Axel snorted. "This saving the worlds routine is getting stale already. Imagine having to go back and re-kill our 'esteemed colleagues.' And considering we terminated their existences in the first place, they wouldn't exactly make it easy for us…"

Both Nobodies let out an involuntary shudder at the thought.

* * *

In the Organization's castle, a portal hissed open. A hooded figure in an Organization coat stepped out, an inky blot against the drab smears of the castle walls, decorated in various shades of gray. Bo-ring. The Superior—Xemnas, the figure amended mentally. If he'd gotten offed by Sora just like the rest of them, then exactly how superior could he be?—should have been able to magic up something more ritzy out of the Nothing from which this world came than just bland old gray.

It was time to shake things up a bit around here. Maleficent might oblige. The sorceress couldn't keep the Organization under her thumb forever—Xemnas had been a hell of a plotter, and even he hadn't been able to stop the Organization from tearing itself apart. Certain malcontents had helped that process on its way a little—Saïx and Axel. It was no secret that the Luna Diviner was ambitious, and for a while the Flurry of Dancing Flames had been, albeit grudgingly, helping his rise to power along And then that Dynamic Duo had split up, leaving Axel more of a loose cannon than ever.

Xigbar pushed his hood back, a ruminating frown on his weathered face. Well, If he was being all honest and introspective, he hadn't been exactly been a fan of the boss either. Xemnas might have been head honcho, but for all his blather about exploring the mysteries of the heart and finding a method of restoring theirs, he'd given a lot of talk and no action. And then there were all the secrets that he kept from the group—like the whole deal with the Chambers of Sleeping and Awakening. Xigbar had done some digging on the subject and come up empty, but that just proved his point. Xemnas had hidden too much from them, the better to manipulate them.

He wouldn't be making that mistake with the new boss-lady. In fact, he didn't intend to let anyone boss him around for long. But hey, maybe a coup or two would be just the thing to heat things up around here. Kingdom Hearts knew he could use some excitement. Letting a small pack of Heartless loose in the middle of the Land of the Dragons' annual celebration of the emperor's birthday had been child's play. Time for the real fun to begin.


	5. Suspicions and Shadows

A/N: Here's a new chapter, finally! A bit short, but it looked longer in Word :/ Thanks to all who continue to follow this story and bear with my slow updates, and especially to those who have reviewed! The next chapter is in the works, and will be appropriately holiday-themed, so stay tuned :-)

**Chapter 5: Suspicions and Shadows**

Why did breakfast on Radiant Garden always have to be so crowded? And messy? Axel pondered these questions, not for the first time, as he watched the Radiant Garden crew, plus Sora and his friends, descend on the food like a famine had just ended. Watching Sora, who sat across from him, was just plain disgusting—who would have thought the Keybearer could fit that many pancakes inside him? Let alone the veritable lake of syrup and butter he'd drowned them in. And Riku wasn't much better. Or Yuffie.

Axel glanced to his left, where Kanixa sat beside him. Her plate had been heaped with a stack of pancakes as enormous as anyone else's, but she had yet to eat a single bite. He caught her attention by tapping on her arm with the back of his hand. "What's with you? You know Leon's only making these because they're your favorite."

"It's your fault for planting thoughts in my head," Kanixa muttered, cutting a neat square off of her stack of pancakes and spearing it with a fork. She twirled it aimlessly around her plate, turning to give him an accusatory look

"Me? What did I do?" Axel demanded, affronted.

Kanixa glanced furtively around the table before murmuring in an undertone, "You don't really think the Organization could be back, could you?"

"Nah. Probably not," Axel replied, gaze going unfocused as he pondered the question. "But you know…there's only one way to find out." An idea popped into his head, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Everything he'd considered the night before—the prospect of another Heartless threat, and the fact that if the worlds really were in danger again he'd need to go fight alongside Sora—still held true. But why make Disney Castle the first stop? They already knew the location of the perceived threat. Why not go and do a little first-hand scouting? And who said Sora had to be along for that part of the ride? Just because he'd appointed himself the Keyblader's babysitter in the event of a real disaster didn't mean they had to be joined at the hip.

"I know," Kanixa grumbled. "Go with Sora to the World that Never Was, and—"

"You're half-right," Axel interrupted, also pitching his tone so that it wouldn't carry past her. "We'll have to check the castle out, but who said anything about bringing the Keyblader and his sidekicks?"

"You know who. The King!" Kanixa replied, as if the answer should be obvious.

"Not any king I recognize," Axel said smoothly. "Face it. Sora has about as much stealth as a rampaging herd of wildebeest—oh, you've never been to the Pridelands. Just forget it," he said, when Kanixa's angry expression melted into confusion. " If—_if_—there really is something worth worrying about waiting for us, whether it's Maleficent or the Organization, they'll see us coming and scatter. Our only shot is to ditch him."

Kanixa raised her chin mulishly, but he could tell she was thinking the point over. "It doesn't feel right—"

"Oh, don't be so sanctimonious," Axel cut in. "It's not like you like to have Sora running around with us, let alone the Dynamic Duo." He glared at Riku and Kairi—the girl was oblivious, flirting with Sora, but Riku matched him glare for glare. He'd be especially glad to spend some time free of that silver-haired punk—he'd gotten tired of feeling the boy's eyes on him everywhere they went. Of the Destiny Islands Trio, Riku was the only one with any street smarts, and it was clear he didn't trust Axel. All too wise, because Number Eight still hadn't given up on his plan to release Roxas from his captivity inside Sora…it was just on the back-burner.

Kanixa followed his gaze, and the corners of her mouth twisted down. Axel allowed a small smirk to slip onto his face, knowing he'd scored a point. Even she couldn't stand Kairi.

"We'll see what Demyx says," she mumbled, before turning her attention back to her food. Axel wasn't fooled by the apparent sudden resurgence of her appetite; he knew it was just an excuse to keep from having to talk.

It was settled. They would find a way to slip to the World That Never Was without Sora and his sidekicks. If asked his opinion, Demyx was sure to favor any plan that meant spending as much time away from them as possible. He'd made his dislike of the Destiny Islands trio clear, and he seemed to harbor some weird, special animosity toward Sora…maybe not so weird, considering in the bad old days before defecting Xemnas had made it clear that he didn't think Demyx had what it took to overcome the Keyblade master.

Though Kanixa needed to learn to scrap the idea that Demyx's opinion counted. What did she think this was, a democracy? No. As Nobodies, neither allied with the Light nor the Darkness, their position among the worlds was still quite tenuous. Sure, King Mickey and company were feeling friendly now, with the Maleficent threat looming on the horizon. But what about later? The tables could be turned. Their little band needed to put their trust in someone with the cunning and brains to keep their skins intact. And that would be Axel himself.

An autocracy. Heh. He kind of liked the sound of that—

"Axel."

"Huh?" He came back to himself with a start, blinking at Kanixa. Immediately he realized that they were the only ones left at the table; the other places had all been cleared and straightened.

"Breakfast is over," she said, looking at him with narrowed eyes, a frown furrowing her forehead. "And you're wearing your plotting look. That makes me nervous, Axel."

Only logical. She had sense, didn't she? "I'm hurt, Kanixa," he drawled, putting a hand over the place where his heart would be. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course." Kanixa sounded confused. "But what does that have to do with—"

"Then trust me to do my job," Axel said, tone reasonable. "Which is to keep us both in one piece…and, by extension, possibly save the worlds. Again," he added, disgust creeping into his tone. "Man." He ran a hand through his hair. "Who would've thought I'd turn out to be such a goody-two-shoes?"

"I would," Kanixa said, giving him a smile. She opened her mouth to continue, but Axel held up his hands in front of him in a warding gesture.

"Do _not_ start talking about how I must still have some Light inside me or something," he said, sounding offended by the thought. Which he was.

Kanixa rolled her eyes. "No worries, Axel. No one would ever think that." Her voice went soft, and she added with a touch of sadness, "That can't be true. We're Nobodies."

Great. He'd managed to turn the conversation around and put his foot in his mouth. "Come on," he began cajolingly, giving her a smile. "I think we actually get the long end of the stick on this deal. Think of all the bad side effects that come with a heart." He paused, racking his brain for something to make her smile or laugh. "Cluelessness. Gullibility." His eyes darted around the room, looking for inspiration.

"Forget it." Kanixa smiled at him, and while he could tell that it was a bit forced, he didn't call her on it. "Let's go find Demyx." She held out her hand to him.

"Off so soon?" A deep voice asked just as Axel began to rise from his seat. He turned, following the voice, to see Leon standing in the doorway that led to Aerith and Yuffie's miniscule kitchen. He glared suspiciously at Axel before turning his attention to Kanixa. "What's the big hurry? You just got here."

"You know how it goes. We've got places to go, people to see. Worlds to plunge into darkness." Axel gave Leon a dark smile, green eyes boring into the Gunblade wielder.

Immediately Kanixa turned to give him a disapproving glare. "Very _funny_, Axel," she said, tone laden with warning. Turning to Leon, she gave the brunette warrior an apologetic look. "We're just going to find Demyx, Leon. There's a few things we need to talk out as a group. We shouldn't be gone too long."

"I think I saw him heading off towards the Bailey," Leon said, jerking a thumb vaguely in the direction of the largely ruined structure.

"Great!" Kanixa said, voice sounding overly cheerful. "We'll just…go look for him." She started for the door, and the hand that was still laced with one of Axel's tightened into a white-knuckled grip. He allowed himself to be pulled along.

"What was that all about?" she demanded in a fierce whisper once they were outside. She stopped dead in the middle of the little square that all the Restoration Committee members lived on, folding her arms across her chest and raising her chin at him mulishly.

The stubborn tilt to her chin, and the flash of anger in her blue-green eyes, might have been cute under ordinary circumstances. But now, it just added fuel to the fire—pun intended. "So I gave him a bit of a hard time," Axel admitted. Maybe it was best to concede that point going out of the gate, take a bit of the wind out of her sails. "Maybe I'm just tired of being treated like being a Nobody is an infectious disease."

"Axel…" Her tone softened, and now she sounded concerned….and he could pick up a hint of something else. Nervousness? "No one here thinks that. Not anymore," she added, the nervous tinge becoming more pronounced.

"You know that's not true!" he burst out, tone coming out louder and more vehement than he'd intended.

Kanixa's eyes darted around the open square. "Maybe we should go somewhere a bit quieter to finish this conversation," she said. Grabbing his hand, she towed him into one of the world's narrow alleys.

Pulling free of Kanixa's grasp, Axel took up his customary lounging position against one of the stone walls, folding his arms across his chest.

"Axel, what's wrong?" she asked. "Do you really hate it here that much?"

'Yes,' was on the tip of his tongue, but one look at the transparent hope in her expression stilled his tongue. She so clearly wanted him to say no. She wanted everything to work out—she wanted to continue to bask in the illusion that she really could have it all. That she and her new Nobody friends could fit into the space her Other had left, the proverbial square peg finally fitting into the round hole.

"No," he sighed, dropping his gaze. It came out petulant, insincere. Because it was. He was tired of playing second fiddle to people with hearts. Maybe it was time he made that abundantly clear.

"Hey." Kanixa put a hand up to his face, resting it lightly against his cheek. "Once we find Demyx, we'll get out of here for a while. Go to the World that Never Was, like you wanted."

"Fine," he said shortly, pushing off of the wall and beginning to walk past her, heading for the mouth of the alley.

"Axel—" she caught his arm as he walked past her. "Wait a sec."

He halted, though it would have been easy to pull out of her grasp. "Yeah?"

"If you're not happy here, after we finish our mission, we can go somewhere else. From what I've heard, there are lots of worlds I haven't seen yet." She gave him a tentative smile.

"Most of them aren't that great," Axel said dismissively, more to conceal the fact that he was touched by her offer than anything. "But some of them might surprise you. Might knock you right off your feet," he added slyly, thinking of Neverland. "What would you say if I told you there was a world where we could fly?"

Kanixa's eyes went wide. "You're kidding me," she said, with unmistakable longing in her voice.

"How about a world where it's always Christmas?" It was part of Halloween Town, but she didn't need to know that, given her lack of fondness for that particular location.

"Now I know you're joking. What, with elves and Christmas lights and snow and—"

"The big man himself," Axel interrupted. "It's all true. Just ask Sora if you don't believe me."

"No way." Kanixa's eyes grew even wider, if that was possible. "No way. You don't mean…"

"See for yourself. After we go on our little scouting trip, that is. Deal?" Axel asked, holding out his hand for her to clasp.

" 'Little scouting trip.' Only you could make this sound so easy," Kanixa said, rolling her eyes. Still, she clasped his hand, grip surprisingly firm. "Deal."

"Good. Let's go let Demyx in on the change of plans." Axel strode off to the Bailey with a noticeable spring in his step.

* * *

Standing in one of the many winding alleys of the World that Never Was, looking around at the silent, looming buildings and feeling the ever-present cold drizzle of rain soak into her skin, Kanixa wished she hadn't been so quick to agree to this little side trip of Axel's. She'd forgotten how much this place gave her the creeps. It was so gloomy, and dark. Now there wasn't even the light of the Kingdom Hearts "moon" to give this place a hint of warmth.

It didn't improve her mood that Axel and Demyx got to hide under the protection of their Organization cloak, while the cloak she'd "borrowed" from Aerith's house on their way out of Radiant Garden did nothing to keep out the elements.

Big, long-fingered hands descended on her shoulders, and heat radiated out from the contact. Kanixa glanced back and up to see Axel standing behind her.

"You look like a drowned kitten," he commented in an undertone. "We definitely need to get you a new coat. After we take a quick look around, that is."

"That's right," Kanixa agreed, speaking her thoughts aloud unconsciously. "That's all this is…just a look around…" A blush rose to her cheeks as she realized she'd betrayed her nerves with her babbling.

"No need to worry," Axel said with his usual confidence-bordering-on-arrogance. "Odds are this whole thing is just King Mickey feeling twitchy. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if the worlds didn't need saving for once."

"Still, it probably isn't a good idea to just waltz up to the castle's front door," Demyx put in, striving for a tone to match Axel's in confidence. Still, Kanixa could hear the faint nervous tremor in his voice. She glanced over to see that her friend's normally cheerful blue eyes had clouded over with worry as he stared up at the dark sky. She felt a pang of regret pass through the place where her heart should have been. Demyx wasn't really meant to be a fighter. He shouldn't have to be dragged into another epic conflict. None of them should. Why wouldn't the universe give them a break?

"I know that," Axel said sharply. "That's why we're going to portal directly into the castle. And split up."

"Great," Demyx muttered. "Let me guess. You with Nixa, and me fending for myself."

Axel opened his mouth, probably to agree, but Kanixa spoke first, tongue tripping over itself in her eagerness to get the words out. "No. Why don't we all split up? I'll go to the supply closet and get myself a coat. Someone can try to find Maleficent, and someone can try to get eyes on that sidekick of hers. We can all meet back here in twenty minutes."

"Taking the easy job for yourself, huh, Nixa?" Demyx teased.

"Hey! My job is not easy! Do you know how hard it is to find the proper size of coat?" Kanixa demanded, pretending offense.

"I don't like it," Axel cut in, a stubborn set to his jaw.

"What? You don't trust me to do something so simple as portal to the supply closet and back?" Kanixa demanded, raising her chin as she glared at him. When he didn't immediately fire back with a retort of his own, just glared at her, she knew she'd scored a point. "Besides, I thought you said this would be easy. Just a little scouting mission."

To her surprise, Axel sighed, expression changing to one of resignation. "I'm beginning to think there's no such thing as easy. Not for us, anyway." He threw up his hands. "Look. Have it your way. You go to the supply closet, I'll go look for the sorceress, and Demyx can keep an eye out for Pete. We'll meet back here to discuss what we saw."

Kanixa felt a grin spread across her face. "Aye, aye, Captain!"

"And Nixa—" Axel's eyes narrowed, and he jabbed a pointer finger in her direction. "If anything happens to you, you're in big trouble. Got that memorized?"

* * *

Once Kanixa had disappeared through a portal, for the first time since stepping foot on The World that Never Was, Demyx cracked a smile. Then, against his better judgment, a giggle slipped out. "Seriously, Axel? 'If anything happens to you, you're in big trouble?' That's the best you could come up with?"

He closed his mouth quickly as the former Number Eight shot him a look filled with venom. "Another word out of you and you'll be flambé," Axel promised. He waited a beat, evidently to be sure that he had Demyx cowed, before opening a portal with a flick of a wrist. Just as he prepared to step in, Demyx decided to offer up a bit of comforting advice.

"She's going to be okay, Axel," Demyx said, giving the redhead a sober look. "She can take care of herself."

Axel paused. Then, "Whatever," he said scornfully. "Back here in twenty minutes. Got that memorized?"

He was gone before Demyx could come up with a suitably rude answer. The former Number Nine opened up a portal of his own, sunk into a black mood. Why did Axel always have to be so unpleasant to be around? Worrying over his girlfriend made the fiery redhead even more temperamental, which meant he'd be in for even more fireworks over the next while.

Demyx emerged on the Altar of Naught, the highest balcony in the Castle that Never Was. Flattening himself against the wall in the middle of the closest shadow, his gaze darted around the open area, looking for any sign of a hostile presence.

If he'd had a heart, it would have stopped dead for an instant. Maleficent's lumbering sidekick Pete stood in the center of the space—he recognized the dog-creature from their brief meeting on the way to the final battle against Xemnas. Lucky for him, managing his mission in the first spot he'd checked. Not so lucky for him, the sorceress herself stood with him.

"Hey, uh, Maleficent?" Pete asked, voice quavering with noticeable fear as he looked down at his boss.

She turned a scornful, yellow-eyed gaze on him. "What, pray tell, are you doing up here? I seem to recall asking you to keep an eye on our new friends."

New friends? Demyx pressed himself further back into the shadows, even more anxious now not to be discovered. This definitely didn't sound good.

"Yeah, but, it's not that simple, see?" Pete protested. "They've got me outnumbered!"

"You witless buffoon!" Maleficent snapped. "I wanted you to spy on them, not to make your presence known!"

Spy on them…Demyx raised a gloved hand to his chin, stroking it in thought. Maleficent must not trust her new 'friends' that much. A bright flash of light drew his attention back to the witch and her sidekick. She'd raised her staff, and a yellow-green stream of lightning had emerged from the crystal globe set in its top to zap Pete in the chest.

"Out! Out of my sight!" she shrieked. Not needing to be told twice, Pete made for the ramp that led down off of the balcony and toward a way into the castle. Well, at least that meant his work here was done, Demyx decided. After all, it had only been his job to track down the sidekick. It was Axel's job to keep tabs on Maleficent.

Just as he prepared to open a portal to safety, a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Demyx spun, opening his mouth to let out a yell of surprise—and Axel clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Quiet, idiot," the redhead snarled in his ear, so softly that Demyx himself could barely hear it. "Want to draw her attention?"

Demyx shot Axel an affronted glare, the best show of defiance he could manage under the circumstances, and promised himself that soon, very soon, he would find a way to pay the redhead back with a soaking. Certain that his meaning had sunk in, Axel removed the hand covering Demyx's mouth, but he didn't release his hold on the Melodious Nocturne's shoulder.

The two of them watched Maleficent in silence, but it looked like the show was over. After what felt like an hour, but was probably only around five minutes, Axel tapped Demyx on the shoulder. The former Number Nine turned to see that Axel had opened a portal. Good. It was past time to get out of there.

"So?" Axel asked once they were safely within the corridor of darkness. "What did you find out?"

"Nothing much," Demyx hedged, debating whether to tell Axel the whole story. For one thing, he was still angry at the redhead. For another, he really didn't want to get sucked into another campaign to save the worlds, and this was shaping up to be just that. Why else would Maleficent go around looking for powerful and dangerous "friends" except to try to build another Kingdom Hearts?

But not telling could put them all in danger. And so, with a defeated sigh, he added, "Before you got there, Maleficent was talking with Pete. And she mentioned that he was supposed to be looking in on some 'friends' of theirs."

"'Friends,' huh?" Axel put a hand to his chin, adopting a thoughtful frown. "That's weird. Because I checked most of the castle on my way up, and it was deserted."

"To be on the safe side, we should find Nixa and get out of here," Demyx said.

"Good point." Axel began to speed up, and Demyx found it difficult to keep up with the redhead's long stride.

When they reached the appointed meeting place, they found Kanixa already waiting for them, dressed in her new Organization coat. "What took you so long?" she demanded. "I've been waiting for ten minutes! And they say girls take the longest."

"Yeah, yeah," Axel said, brushing off her gibe with only one of his milder glares. "Time to go."

"Go where?" Demyx asked.

"Go report to Sora," Axel replied, rolling his eyes to show what he thought of that sentence. "Something about this place gives me a bad vibe. So why not have the Keyblade Master do our dirty work and finish checking it out?"

"Fine with me," Demyx shrugged. Any option that involved someone else doing the metaphorical heavy lifting suited him.

"And then we can get on with our little vacation," Axel added, turning his attention. "Starting with Christmas Town."

"Wait." Demyx's brow furrowed in dismay. "Christmas Town? Why go there? It's full of snow and sparkly lights and…holiday cheer," he finished, tone laden with disgust.

"So, don't go," Axel said, and while his tone stayed casual, he gave Demyx a hard stare."Stay on Radiant Garden with our pal Leon."

"Holiday cheer, it is," Demyx sighed. No way would he stay near Leon if he could help it. And it wasn't like the rest of the Radiant Garden townies were any better. Still, he allowed himself one aggrieved sigh as he filed into the portal that would take them to Radiant Garden. If they were going on vacation, why couldn't it be somewhere awesome like Atlantica?

In the Organization's Round Room, nine figures sat in sulky silence. The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife, but Zexion ignored it, focusing his attention on the Lexicon balanced in his lap. He pored over it, looking for any scrap of information he could find on the new Number Thirteen. Kanixa.

The scent that must belong to her was just now fading from his nose, along with the unmistakable smoky scent of that _traitor_ Axel, and the salty ocean tang that signified Demyx. The fact that they'd come poking around so soon after the Organization's reappearance most likely wasn't a coincidence, and certainly wasn't a good sign.

Zexion had detected the trio as soon as they'd stepped into the castle, each acting alone. It would have been simple to pick them off, one by one, or at least to take one for questioning. Unfortunately, the sorceress that styled herself the Organization's new Superior had forbidden such action. It wouldn't do to give away their presence too early. Besides, taking on the traitors now didn't present the most advantageous timing for the Organization itself. Ideally once the Organization had regained its footing, it could find its way out from under the sorceress's thumb and deal with both Sora and the traitors at its own leisure.

Now was not the time to protest Malficent's rule. Now was the time to wait, and plot. Zexion's lips curved up into a mirthless smile. Two things he did very well.

The use of a Keyblade wielder as a pawn would certainly give the Organization a good bit of leverage against the witch. And as the attempt to harness Sora in Castle Oblivion had proved…disastrous, to say the least, it was time he found out as much as he could about this Kanixa. His Lexicon could show him the text of any book ever written, but even his trusty book had come up nearly empty.

"I still don't understand why we had to let them _go_." Leave it to Larxene to break the silence, Zexion thought bitterly, looking up to where the Savage Nymph slumped theatrically in her chair.

"To quote an interesting character I once met on Port Royal, it wasn't the 'opportune moment,'" Luxord replied. "In the game of life, timing is everything, love. It wouldn't do to tip our hand too early."

"More card metaphors? How…boring," Larxene drawled, raising one hand to her mouth to smother a fake yawn.

"This isn't the time for dissention," Saĭx cut in, tone authoritative. Zexion glanced over where to where the Luna Diviner sat. He'd taken the second-highest throne in the Round Room….he'd have taken the Superior's chair itself if he thought he could get away with it. The Cloaked Schemer's hands tightened on the covers of his Lexicon. He wouldn't like to see any neophyte in the position of Superior, but he could not abide Saïx.

"And who are you to say?" Marluxia demanded. Ah, yes. Death apparently hadn't changed Number Eleven any. The neophyte apparently relished stirring up dissention as much as ever—dissention that he no doubt hoped could turn to his advantage, and ride to a seat in the Superior's chair. The Graceful Assassin was another that he wouldn't be turning his back on, Zexion decided.

Zexion sighed, casting one long-suffering look at Lexaeus, the colleague that he trusted the most, before turning back to his book and tuning out the others' squabbles. Someone had to focus on making this Organization great again, not the conflicted group on the brink of civil war that it had been just before the Castle Oblivion debacle. And clearly that task fell to him, as the one with the most intellect—well, Vexen had a keen mind, but he wasted it on his precious _experiments_.

He would come up with a plan to free the Organization from Maleficent's oversight and either bend the Keybearers to the Organization's will, or eliminate them. After all, was he not the Cloaked Schemer?


	6. Heartless Holidays

A/N: Hello, all, and happy holidays! Here is the holiday-themed chapter, and up just before Christmas! This chapter is the first part of two that go together, but I hope to have the next chapter up soon! Thanks to my reviewers, Phantasmagoric Theatre and opticon217-reviews are always great encouragement for me. **  
**

**Chapter 6: Heartless Holidays**

Kanixa could hardly restrain herself to a sedate walk as she followed Axel and Demyx through the corridor of darkness. Stopping off on Radiant Garden to urge Sora to look into the World that Never Was further, and to bid yet another temporary goodbye to her friends in the Radiant Garden Restoration committee, had taken a surprisingly short amount of time. Okay, maybe it wasn't that surprising—Axel had found Sora, summed up their trip to the World that Never Was while the Keybearer gaped that they'd had the rudeness to go without him, and declared it was time to go. He'd barely paused to let Kanixa sneak her borrowed cloak back into Aerith's wardrobe, and tell the healer herself goodbye, before dragging her off-world, muttering something about making themselves scarce before Leon showed up. Kanixa had been miffed at first, but now she found it hard to be anything but excited.

The past few months—her entire life since waking up as a Nobody—had been nothing but struggle and stress. She'd either been training for a fight, running away from a fight, or actually fighting the entire time. She'd had to deal with insane psychopaths on a daily basis, and that was just thanks to being stuck with Axel—

He turned to give her a sharp look, as if he'd been able to hear her mental joke at her expense. Kanixa blinked up at him warily. That would be the last thing she needed, for him to suddenly develop the ability to read minds. But then his face smoothed out as he smirked at her, and she realized that his fierce expression had actually been one of concentration. That worried her. What did Axel think was worth spending any significant amount of his mental energy on?

"So, Nixa," he began smoothly, his voice bringing her back to the present. "Excited for Christmas Town?"

"You have no idea," she said, giving him a wide smile. "Finally, I get to go to a place that isn't scary or depressing or under attack…one that's just fun."

"Christmas Town? Fun?" Demyx muttered incredulously. "They have no taste in music!"

Axel gave the sitar player a glare intended to silence him. Moving so that he walked slightly closer to Kanixa, he reached out with an air of casualness and draped an arm around her shoulders. "So. A road trip to somewhere fun, that has nothing to do with Kingdom Hearts or Heartless. I get points, right?" he asked, giving her a smile.

"Mmm…" Kanixa frowned mock-seriously, pretending to consider. "I guess so," she said finally, giving him a grin—his affronted expression was just too funny.

"You guess so? You are so high maintenance," Axel grumbled, removing his arm from her shoulders so that he could fold both arms across his chest.

After a moment of silence, Kanixa reached over to poke him in the upper arm. "Hey. Did you really mean it when you said that we could meet Santa?" she asked.

"Yes, I meant it," Axel grumbled. Evidently he was going to hold a grudge about being teased. After a beat, his customary smirk found its way onto his face. "Look at you," he added. "You're like a kid in a candy store—or so I assume. That's one spectacle I hope never to see." He shook his head slightly. "So, what gives? Do you have some kind of a Christmas fetish?"

"No," Kanixa said defensively, looking away. Okay, so maybe there was a tiny ring of untruth to that statement. She'd always been by far the most obsessed with Christmas out of all of her friends growing up. Well, maybe Yuffie came in a close second. But it was all just so magical! Sparkling lights brightening up the night with festive cheer…when it came down to it, maybe that was what she really loved about the holiday. More than the special food, such as gingerbread and egg nog (which Leon watched like a hawk to make sure no one—Cid or Yuffie, really—could spike it), or the beautiful decoration, she loved the light that Christmas brought to even the darkest times. Even when Hollow Bastion had fallen to the darkness, and the whole gang had been forced to relocate, that hadn't been able to stop Santa. And now, even the fact that she was a Nobody wouldn't keep her from enjoying her favorite holiday!

Axel's chuckle broke into her reverie. "What?" she asked, looking over at him curiously.

"Nothing. You just look so…happy," he said without a trace of his usual cocky attitude. There was actually a hint of wonder in his tone and in his face. He must have realized this, because immediately he assumed his usual smirk. "You're something else, you know that?"

"Of course I am. It takes a special caliber of person to put up with you," Kanixa shot back.

"Hey!" While he manufactured the perfect affronted tone, the shove he gave her was merely playful, without most of his strength behind it.

Kanixa was considering how best to retaliate when Axel's voice interrupted her thoughts. "We're here," he declared. Of course—he must have felt that odd, tugging sensation that signaled to Nobodies when they reached their destination. He opened a portal with a flick of his wrist, then gave a bow. "Ladies first."

Kanixa practically scampered through the portal, and found herself standing on a snowy hilltop. Far below, at the foot of the hill, she could just make out what looked to be a compact little village. The cluster of tiny houses all had adorable, snow-coated roofs that made them look almost like iced gingerbread, and sported flashing colored lights. If any place looked like the perfect post-card Christmas come to life, it was here.

She clasped her hands together in pure excitement—and noticed that she wore a tattered pair of black fingerless gloves. Not exactly Christmassy attire. A further glance down revealed orange-and-black stockings emerging from underneath her Organization coat. This looked almost like a Halloween-Town getup, she noted, growing more suspicious by the second.

Two whooshing noises signaled that Axel and Demyx had followed her out of the portal. Kanixa turned to demand what was going on—and gasped. Both of them had transformed, and not for the better. She took in Axel's appearance first. His eyes now had lines of stitches stretching from the outward corners into his hairline, almost bizarre extensions of his eyeliner. Other than that, his face remained unchanged. Instead of his gloves, bloodstained bandages wrapped his fingers and hands.

"How do I look?" he asked with a smile, revealing fangs.

"Creepy," she replied. "And not at all Christmassy. What's going on here? If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were on Halloween Town."

"Uhhh…" Axel trailed off, not meeting her gaze, running a hand through his spiky hair. "About that…"

"What do you mean, Nixa?" Demyx asked, sounding bewildered. Kanixa turned to look at him, and felt her jaw drop at his transformed appearance. The changes to his appearance were more dramatic. A circular patch with a screaming face on it covered one eye. On the other side of his face, a line of stitches followed his cheekbone. His outfit of Organization coat and boots remained the same, but little spikes rose from the sleeves of his gloves. And his smile suddenly seemed more menacing.

"Wow," she said simply.

Demyx reached up to run a gloved hand through his hair sheepishly. "Overkill, huh?"

"A little. But what were you saying?"

"Of course this is still Halloween Town! Christmas Town and Halloween Town share a world," Demyx said, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.

"Wait. So you mean that Christmas could be overrun with zombies and mummies and Halloween spooks?" Kanixa demanded, dismayed.

"Nah. Halloween Town is all the way across the world," Axel said soothingly. "The two parts don't mix. But for some reason world travelers come in set to blend in with Halloween on default."

"So we'll stick out like sore thumbs."

"We would've stuck out anyway, since we're not elves or jolly fat men," Axel pointed out. "Besides, Santa's probably used to it by now with Sora always turning up. The kid's been here what, twice already?"

"Sora's already met Santa?" Kanixa's eyes widened. "Lucky!"

"You get to meet him too, if you want, remember? His house is right down there." Axel pointed to the picture-perfect village at the foot of the hill.

"That…" Kanixa felt a huge grin spread across her face. "is so AWESOME! Wait until I tell Yuffie about this! And now I can finally settle my bet with her about whether Santa's beard is real!"

"Calm down," Axel laughed, patting her on the back. "I didn't realize by bringing you here I'd be awakening your inner Sora."

"Am I really that bad?" Kanixa asked, feeling a bit crestfallen about being compared to the hyperactive, easily excited Keyblade Master.

"Nah," Demyx rushed to chime in. "Just…enthusiastic?" He shared a glance with Axel.

"Oh, whatever." Kanixa waved away their dismay over her excitement. Let them feel all superior and mature because Christmas wasn't enough to send them into a tizzy. She planned to enjoy every second of her time here! "Let's go!" she called, beginning to sprint down the steep slope.

"Nixa, wait up!" Axel began, expression shifting from amused tolerance to concern as he hurried after her. Kanixa only halfway listened, intent on making it down to the town—and suddenly she skidded on a patch of ice, her feet sliding out from under her. Her descent became a most undignified slide on her rear.

She let out an adrenaline-filled whoop—she'd always liked fast-paced rides, and this was like some crazy, snowy roller-coaster. Behind her, she heard Demyx call, "Cool!" Suddenly the Melodious Nocture was whizzing past her on his stomach, sliding down the slippery slope like a penguin. "Race you!" he hollered as he passed.

"You're on!" Kanixa cried, lying back and folding her arms across her chest to make herself more streamlined and aerodynamic. She drew closer to Demyx, until they were right beside each other. Demyx stuck his tongue out at her—and then they both plowed into a snow drift. Kanixa spluttered as whiteness obscured her vision, and also crept into her nose and mouth. She spent a few frightening seconds flailing around, completely buried. Then someone hauled her out of the snowdrift by the hood of her Organization coat.

"If you get pneumonia from that, don't expect me to babysit you," Axel said in a bored tone as he deposited her on her feet.

"Th-thanks," Kanixa stammered through chattering teeth as he leaned down to fish out Demyx.

"L-let's not do that again," the Melodious Nocturne said, shivering, as Axel dropped him with considerably less gentleness than he'd shown Kanixa.

"Next time, I let you freeze," he growled at Demyx.

"Um, Axel? D-do you think we could find s-somewhere inside?" Kanixa asked. Preferably with a warm mug of hot cocoa…Warmth spread through her at the idea—no. She really was getting warmer. She glanced over to see Axel trying his best to keep a gruff expression on as he held her by the shoulder.

"Better?" he asked. Kanixa just nodded. "Good. Then let's go find Santa." He paused, running a hand through his hair. "Although, when we find him, it might be best if you go in alone. Or at least with Demyx."

"Why?" Kanixa asked, but Axel was already starting off into the village square—they'd landed, conveniently enough, right at the outskirts of town. She jogged a few steps to catch up, but stopped short when Heartless erupted out of the ground around her. "Axel, look out!" she yelled, summoning her Keyblade.

The redhead whirled, taking in her predicament through narrowed eyes. "What the-?" he muttered, summoning his chakrams. "That's not right."

Kanixa did a double-take as well. The Heartless bobbing around her, doing their best to look threatening, looked unmistakably like they belonged on the Halloween side of the world. A mummy and two ghost-things stared back at her—make that one ghost thing, she thought a bit uneasily, as Axel took one of the creatures down in a flurry of flames and flashing chakrams. Shaking off the vague sense of dread which Axel's ruthless efficiency at taking down foes always inspired, she turned on the mummy.

A cry of "Dance, water, dance!" behind her signaled that Demyx had decided to get involved in the battle. Within seconds, all three Heartless had been defeated.

"Weird," Demyx said, scratching his head with the hand not holding onto his sitar. "What are Halloween Heartless doing in Christmas Town?"

"Beats me," Axel replied. "But I bet I know who can tell us. The big man himself. Come on." He turned towards the big house at the other end of the town square, then glanced back at Kanixa. "Sorry. Looks like this will be a working vacation."

"It's okay," Kanixa said confidently. Seeing the little monsters here had enraged her. Heartless, creatures of Darkness, in the one place that to her most stood for Light. "At least helping Santa with his Heartless problem is sure to get us a Christmas bonus," she joked.

"Yeah," Axel said, looking glum. "About that—"

But Kanixa was already walking—right into another miniature swarm of Heartless. There was no time for talk, as fighting their way across the square to Santa's workshop took all of the trio's effort. Finally they staggered, out of breath, up the front steps to ring the bell.

It took long minutes for them to hear footsteps approaching the door. It swung inward, and Kanixa caught a glimpse of a rotund silhouette backlit by bright light before she collapsed on the threshold , face-down.

Kanixa woke up to coziness and warmth. Someone had stretched her out on a couch and covered her with a red-and-green quilt. Across the room, a cheerful fire crackled in a brick fireplace.

"Nixa? You okay?" someone muttered urgently. She opened her eyes to see a familiar jade pair peering down at her, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," she said, sitting up. Axel leaned back to give her room, and she noticed that he had his hood up. "Why-?" she began, but he put his finger to his lips. At that moment, the big man himself, as Axel had called him, came into the room.

"Are you feeling well?" he asked her, eyes twinkling at her.

"Much better, thank you," Kanixa replied, surprised at how level she sounded. Inside, she was jumping for joy. This was the legend she'd grown up waiting for impatiently every Christmas Eve. The one and only Santa Claus! And he was real! Leon would never believe it.

"So, you three made it through the Heartless outside. And your friend—" he gestured at Demyx—"tells me you came all this way just to see me. Let me guess. You want to see whether you're on the nice list—" he gestured at a roll of parchment that lay in folds on a table before the couch, coiled like a snake—"or the naughty list." Kanixa's eyes widened—the 'naughty' list stretched all the way across the room, before folding back over itself!

"That's—that's right," she agreed, not sure what else to say. "I'm Kanixa, and that's Demyx."

"Hmmmm." Santa produced a pair of spectacles from somewhere inside his suit and slipped them on his nose. He picked up the 'nice' list first. "Kanixa. Demyx…." He pored over the list in silence, and Kanixa found herself waiting with bated breath. Surely she'd be on there. She'd always been a devout believer, even when certain people—Leon and Cloud—had tried to insist to her that there was no such thing. And if saving the worlds from the Organization wasn't enough to cement her a position on the 'good' list for all time, then she didn't know what would do the trick!

"No," Santa said, sounding a bit disappointed. "You're not on here…" He reached for the 'naughty' list.

"Th—that can't be right," Kanixa protested, feeling crestfallen. A gasp from Santa stopped her from saying more.

"Here you are. Kanixa—Demyx!" He looked up at them, eyes now twinkling in anger. "You're from Organization Thirteen! That makes you very—_very_—naughty!"

"I wouldn't talk to her like that if I were you," Axel drawled, coming up to stand beside Kanixa.

"You dare to threaten _Father Christmas_?" Santa demanded, drawing himself up to his full height.

"I dare a lot more than that, old man," Axel said, pulling down his hood.

"Axel—you can't talk to him that way—he's _Santa_!" Kanixa hissed. She would have said more, but she noticed that Santa's face had lost all its color, turning him an unattractive shade of gray.

"It's _you_!" He shouted, pointing a pudgy finger at Axel. "Axel!"

"Good to hear that you've still got it memorized," Axel drawled. "Relax. I'm not here for you this time. I'm here to help you. My friends and I—" he gestured at Kanixa and Demyx—" have come to help take care of your Heartless problem."

"You expect me to believe that?" Santa blustered. "Last time you came here, you tried to kill me—to make me into a Heartless for that Organization of yours!"

"You _what_?" Kanixa shrieked, turning on Axel.

"Obviously it didn't work. And all's well that ends well, right?" Axel asked in a reasoning tone, spreading his hands. When that didn't appear to appease either party, he added, "Sorry. It came with the job description." He didn't sound in the least repentant. "But you'll be happy to know that I've changed jobs. I'm in the business of saving the worlds now."

"You? Don't make me laugh. And even if that were true, I won't take help from the likes of you!" Santa protested.

"So you'll just sit around and hope that the Keybearer shows up?" Axel asked. "I doubt that. I couldn't help but notice your little countdown out there. Christmas is in a few days, and those Heartless will make it hard to deliver your presents."

"And your help will come without a price?" Santa asked, sounding suspicious.

"Only one small request," Axel said.. "My friend here—" he put his hand on Kanixa's shoulder—"goes back on the 'nice' list. I think saving Christmas should be enough to earn her that reward, don't you?"

"I don't alter my lists for anyone!" Santa protested, folding his arms over his ample stomach.

"Fine. Have it your way," Axel said with a shrug. "I was hoping that we could be friends. Make this into a profitable relationship for everyone involved. But I guess," and he summoned his chakrams to him in an impressive flurry of flames, "we'll just have to go back to being enemies. It's your call." He gave Santa a dangerous smile.

"No—" Kanixa got to her feet. "No way!" she shouted, summoning her Keyblade and chopping it through the air in front of her for emphasis. "Axel, you are _not_ attacking Santa Claus!"

"What? It's not like he'll listen to anything other than aggressive negotiations—"

"I think that if I have to be put on the 'nice' list by _blackmail_, I'd rather not be on it at all!" Kanixa softened her tone. "I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, Axel. Really. But this isn't the way."

Axel glared at her for a long moment, then he banished his chakrams with a sigh. Kanixa turned to face Santa, giving him an earnest look. "Sir—"

"Where did you get that?" Santa demanded, pointing at her Keyblade. "Did you steal it from Sora?"

"Like I would!" Kanixa snapped. "This is mine. It always has been." She took a calming breath. "Sir, I know you have no reason to trust Nobodies, and a good reason to fear us." She spared a second to glare at Axel. "But let me show you why we don't belong on the naughty list. Not all Nobodies are the same. And people can change."

Santa considered for a long moment. "So…you'll find the source of the Heartless and destroy it? By Christmas Eve? Just as a sign of good faith?"

"That's right," Kanixa replied, looking him in the eyes.

"Very well. Make good on your word—" Santa's lip curled as if to suggest that the word of a Nobody was worth nothing at all. Ordinarily, Kanixa would agree with him—"and then…we'll see. Now. Out, all of you!"

"Wait a minute," Kanixa protested, bewildered. "Aren't you going to tell us your theories about the Heartless? Or at least describe how they appeared?"

Santa's eyes twinkled, but the light they held didn't look jolly or Christmassy at all. In fact, it looked downright vengeful. "You agreed to stop the Heartless problem. That means you find the answers." He turned and stalked out of the room.

"Man," Axel growled, glaring at the doorway Santa had exited through. "I don't believe this! Well, you heard the man. Let's get going." He strode out of the house, looking for all the world like a hound on a scent, not looking behind to see who followed.

"Axel, wait up!" Demyx called, sprinting to catch up with the redhead. "Where are you going? We need to find the source of the Heartless!"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Axel asked scornfully. "Those Heartless weren't from here. They weren't man-eating candy canes or whatever. They were mummies and ghosts. That means they're from Halloween Town."

The knowledge that they would be going to her least favorite world—well, part of a world—sent Kanixa over the edge. She stopped dead, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not going there."

"You were the one who wanted to save Christmas," Axel pointed out, glancing over his shoulder at her and arching his eyebrows. "And the only way to do that is to actually investigate."

"I can't believe this!" She continued, working up a real head of steam. "This was supposed to be something fun, without Heartless! Instead there are monsters, I find out I'm on the naughty list and you tried to _kill_ Santa! And we have to go back to Halloween Town!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Now, Kanixa, I'm pretty sure throwing a temper tantrum won't get you back on the nice list," he said in a falsely cheerful tone. When she just raised her chin to glare at him, all pretense at jollity vanished. "Look," he snapped. "We came here for you. I'm putting up with all this happy Christmas mumbo-jumbo for you—"

Demyx snickered under his breath. "You're just still bitter because those elves got you good with that present cannon. Didn't think they'd be so bent on defending the big guy, did you?"

"Shut up, Demyx," Axel snarled without taking his eyes off Kanixa. "I didn't realize this was an episode of 'Embarrassing Past Missions.' Maybe we should talk about your trip to the Enchanted Dominion—"

"Axel." Demy's expression, which had been turning stormy to match Axel's, became closed-off, wary. "I think we have company." He nodded toward the top of the hill.

Axel and Kanixa both followed his gaze, summoning their weapons as they did so. Axel spotted the group first, and banished his chakrams, shoulders slumping. "Just great," he sighed.

"Hi, guys!" Sora called from the top of the hill, raising one hand to wave at them. And behind the Keyblade Master stood all of his friends—Riku and Kairi, but also Donald and Goofy.

"What could they be doing here? And why did they get cool outfits?" Kanixa demanded.

Instead of being stuck in Halloween garb, Sora and his friends all wore Christmas outfits. Sora was dressed as a miniature Santa, minus beard—his shirt and pants had turned a bright holiday red, and he wore a fur-trimmed pointy hat on his head. Riku wore green—he must be one of Santa's elves, then, Kanixa decided, snickering at the thought. He looked even more sullen than usual, and she didn't blame him—the green vest rimmed with white fur, the bell-legged green pants and the curly-toed shoes were ridiculous. Kairi's elf outfit was much better, a full-skirted green dress with a fur muff. She really did look like a princess.

While Kanixa had been taking in the others' outfits with envy, Axel had been stalking up the hill. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, glaring down at Sora. Kanixa hurried after him as she listened for the Keyblade Master's reply.

Sora blinked, taken aback by the Nobody's unwelcoming attitude, then pasted a smile on his face. "It's good to see you,too! We decided to stop by and get the King's advice, and he said that there were other places that needed us more than the World that Never Was." The Keybearer's expression turned solemn. "There are reports of Heartless popping up on a bunch of worlds. Worlds whose Keyholes I've already sealed. This was one of them." Sora's irrepressible smile slid back onto his face. "I came here to deal with any Heartless and give the locals a hand. I didn't expect you guys to have the same idea!"

"We didn't," Demyx muttered.

"So, now that we're here, what do we do?" Riku asked.

"I figure we should check in on the big guy himself," Sora replied, shooting his friend a grin. "You know. Santa."

"Santa? You mean he's real?" Riku guffawed. "No way. This I have to see."

"You go right ahead," Axel said smoothly. "We're headed to Halloween Town. I've got a feeling that's where the real trouble is."

"It is—if that's where you'll be," Kairi replied, giving Axel a glare.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Axel said. "Ready, you two?" Kanixa merely nodded, and Demyx followed suit. "Then let's get out of here."

"Wait a sec," Riku said, eyes narrowing. "Do you know something we don't?"

"We already paid the big guy a visit," Axel told the silver-haired boy, sounding as though he parted with the information begrudgingly. "It seems some Heartless are interfering with his Christmas plans. And all the evidence points that way." He pointed at the massive tree that crowned the hilltop on which they all stood. Kanixa blinked—carved into its trunk was a glowing pumpkin.

"Uh-oh," one of the King's lackeys—Goofy—informed his partner in a stage-whisper. "D'you think this could be another of Jack's plans gone wrong?"

"Who's Jack?" Axel asked sharply.

"Jack Skellington," Sora answered. "He's a friend of ours in Halloween Town. He really loves Christmas, but all his attempts to help turn kind of...disastrous."

"Then let's go pay Jack a visit," Riku declared. "Santa can wait until after we've saved Christmas."

"Wait a minute," Axel cut in. "If anyone is saving Christmas, it's us!"

"Guys—we can all work together!" Sora said, flashing everyone a confident smile. "After all, we're friends, right? Working together will only make us stronger."

"Gawrsh, that's right!" Goofy agreed, and Donald nodded.

Axel caved in with a profound lack of grace, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Next stop, Halloween Town."

* * *

Axel stalked toward the glowing pumpkin carved into the tree trunk, annoyance in every line of his body. This vacation was turning out to be a disaster—and not a vacation at all. Sora's arrival had officially turned this into work, an assignment from the King to figure out why Heartless were reappearing among the worlds. And while he liked a good mystery as much as the next guy, he did not like working with the Keybearer. Sora's perpetual brightness and naivete, two traits that seemed to go hand-in-hand with representatives of the Light, were grating on their own. Throwing in his two best friends and the King's two sidekicks was just too much.

This whole cloud of irritation did have one silver lining. At last something had been pinned down for certain. All was not right with the worlds, and he had more proof than just the sense that something was off and a few snatched bits of an overheard conversation on the World that Never Was to prove it. Heartless swarms on many different worlds happening almost in tandem couldn't be a coincidence.

What would happen next would be almost predictable, after last time. Left to his own devices, Sora would probably cut a completely arbitrary path through the worlds, running around like a chicken with its head cut off and yet somehow managing to save lives and win friends along the way. Eventually, the chips would start falling into place and even someone as slow on the uptake as Sora would get the big picture, figure out who the chief bad guy was and take him down in a blaze of glory. Balance would be restored. Axel could probably sit the whole thing out and it really wouldn't make a difference. But, hey. He'd always been an action-oriented kind of guy. He might as well help the Keyblade Master out, and have some fun doing it.

He walked up to the pumpkin—and straight through it, feeling a faint tingling on his skin as he passed through the portal . The picturesque scenery of Christmas Town dissolved in an eyeblink, and he found himself standing in a bleak forest that looked completely Halloween. He paused, waiting for the others to catch up, which didn't take long. Demyx and Kanixa came next, moving relatively sneakily, but then Sora and his entourage crashed through like a herd of wildebeest. It would either drive anything nasty completely away, or would send it homing in right on them.

"So, where do we find this Jack Skellington?" Axel asked Sora, once the Keyblade Master got himself oriented. While he waited for the spiky-haired brunette to respond, he noted that his Christmas gear had changed to something more befitting Halloween. Still, Sora would never be called spooky. At least he'd be able to blend in now instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.

Sora considered. "Well, he could be at Dr. Finkelstein's lab, or in the cemetery, or in the town square—"

"Sounds like we'd better split up, then," Axel overrode him. "So, how do we want to go about it?"

"I," Kairi said fervently, "am not searching the cemetery, Sora." She wrinkled her nose at the very thought. What a princess, Axel thought, not making the term a compliment at all. Why Sora insisted on bringing her along, he had no idea. She was pure dead weight. He'd seen in the final battle against the Organization that she had a Keyblade, but it wasn't like she ever bothered to use it—

"I'll look in the cemetery if I have to," Kanixa muttered, looking a bit pale. "There aren't zombies or anything, are there?" she asked, giving Axel a nervous look.

"Nah. Nothing too creepy. Just keep an eye out for Heartless."

"Then it's settled. Kairi and I will search Doctor Finkelstein's lab. Axel, you and Kanixa and Demyx search the cemetery. And Riku and Donald and Goofy can search the rest of the town," Sora said. "We'll meet back here in twenty minutes."

The group dispersed, leaving Axel, Demyx, and Kanixa alone in the clearing. "If memory serves, the cemetery is that way, on the way to town," Axel said, nodding at the way that the others had gone. "Let's get moving."

As they started walking, Kanixa glanced up at Axel. "So, want to tell me about why you tried to kill Santa?"

"It was just a mission," Axel said, running his hand through his hair. "You might have heard something about Xemnas's grand plan back when we were in the Organization. He wanted some of the head honchos on a few of the worlds turned into Heartless, so that more strong hearts could be used to form Kingdom Hearts—and if he was lucky, the Heartless left behind might stand a chance of taking down Sora. Xaldin got sent to the Beast's Castle to try to take down the Beast. I got sent here to try to sort out Santa."

Demyx snorted. "You'd think the Superior would know better than to try and turn one of the foremost symbols of goodness and light into a Heartless."

"It was supposed to be an easy mission. Take down one tubby old geezer," Axel grumbled. "It…didn't turn out that way. And that's all we're going to say on the subject," he said, turning to glare at Demyx.

"Spoilsport," Kanixa grumbled. "You two have plenty of dirt on me. I should at least get to hear some embarrassing stories." She looked like she might have said more, but then the cemetery gates came into view. She fell silent, contemplating the wrought iron structure as it swayed in the wind, making faint creaking noises.

"That looks like something out of a nightmare," she said finally.

"It's really not so bad in there," Demyx said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Just some crumbling old tombstones and some jack-o-lanterns. No zombies or anything."

"Still, if this world is crawling with Heartless like Sora said, there'll be some in there," Axel reminded them both. "Be ready." Summoning his chakrams to him, he strolled up to the gate and pushed it open. It swung slowly, with a high-pitched screech that was enough to wake the dead. And on this world, it could probably do just that.

Axel strolled into the graveyard, noticing that Kanixa stuck close to his side, and clutched her Keyblade in a white-knuckled grip. Clearly this world, with its spooky scenery, was getting to her.

"Relax," he advised in an undertone. "This place isn't so bad. Halloween Town's mostly costume evil. Just keep your eyes peeled for—Heartless!" he snapped, launching both his chakrams at a Search Ghost that popped up in front of him, then tucking himself into a ball and rolling to avoid a back-attack from another Search Ghost. When he got to his feet, just in time to neatly catch the chakrams arcing back towards him, he saw Kanixa engaged with a few Wight Knights, and Demyx grappling with what appeared to be a giant tombstone-Heartless.

Finally, things were getting interesting, he thought, a feral smile slipping onto his face as he sent a barrage of flames at a Search Ghost, finishing it off. But it was odd that the little monsters had only struck when they got to the cemetery. Shouldn't they be popping up everywhere?

Kanixa looked to be handling the mummy-creatures surrounding her well enough, so Axel decided to help Demyx take down his opponent. A few well-placed strikes with his chakrams battered the tombstone-Heartless up enough so that the balls of water Demyx launched at it could have some effect. Cracks began to show in the Heartless's body. With both Axel and Demyx applying their combined strength, the Heartless began to show more fractures until finally it crumbled apart, sending a once-captive heart arcing up into the sky.

Axel landed neatly in a crouch, chakrams raised in front of him, eyes darting around to catch sight of any further foes. Besides himself and Demyx, the area appeared deserted. Deserted…where had Kanixa gotten to?

Getting to his feet, Axel spun around to see her running toward him from the far end of the graveyard. She stopped just in front of him, eyes wide with what looked like fear.

"What's the matter, Nixa? Think you saw a ghost?" he asked, giving her a smirk.

"Maybe. Axel—I just saw someone in an Organization coat run into a portal." Kanixa gave him a nervous look. "I think they're back."


	7. Making Christmas

A/N: I've got my second Christmas chapter posted in time for Christmas! Once again, thanks to those who have reviewed: Taeniaea, Frooky90, laniDG11, and opticon217! Reviews are always great encouragement.

**Chapter 7: Making Christmas**

Kanixa raced up to Axel from the far end of the graveyard. She stopped in front of him, taking a moment to catch her breath before giving him the horrible news—

"What's the matter, Nixa?" Axel asked before she could speak. "Think you saw a ghost?" he smirked at her.

Kanixa reined in the urge to give him a snide comeback. This was no time for that. "Maybe," she said instead. "Axel—I just saw someone in an Organization coat run into a portal." She gave him a nervous look. "I think they're back."

She stared at Axel, waiting for her pronouncement to sink in. Hello—Organization back? Dire consequences? But the redhead didn't look at all apprehensive. Instead, he looked a bit…annoyed. He hid it well, but it declared itself in the way the joking expression left his face, leaving it unreadable, and his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Look, Nixa," he said after a pause. "I know you think you saw something, but it was probably your imagination running away with you. This place can do that to people."

"I'm not people. I don't just jump at shadows, Axel!" Kanixa glanced over to Demyx, who'd been standing close enough to overhear the entire exchange, hoping that her friend would throw his support on our side. The sitar player just shrugged.

"I would say we should check it out if there was anything left to check out. But you say the guy you think you saw—"

"I _know_ what I saw," Kanixa cut in, beginning to lose her temper.

"—vanished into a portal," Demyx finished. "So there's nothing left to see. Let's just focus on the mission at hand, and keep an eye out for anything else weird."

"I can't believe that neither of you believe me!" Kanixa folded her arms across her chest.

"It's not that we don't believe you…" Demyx began slowly, looking over at Axel for support.

"It's just that if there's a way for a Nobody to come back—one that's faded—I've never heard of it," Axel said flatly. "I'm not saying it's impossible, but…" he trailed off. "Look, let's just hope you're wrong." With that, he turned and began walking back toward the cemetery gates. "We're done here," he called over his shoulder. "Let's go see what the others are up to in town."

After giving Kanixa one apologetic glance, Demyx followed after him. Kanixa brought up the rear, hands curled into fists at her sides, inwardly fuming. Who did they think she was—some pampered princess like Kairi who would freeze at the first sign of trouble? She wasn't overacting and she wasn't imagining things! There had definitely been a figure in an Organization Coat lurking in the shadows at the far end of the cemetery, almost as if it had been watching the fighting going on. When it had spotted her, it had nodded at her before disappearing into a portal. Like it wanted her to see it, in the hopes that she would become the girl who cried wolf…

Kanixa sighed, shaking her head. Even she had to admit that last thought was a bit far-fetched. Axel was right—the chances of the Organization somehow being back were next to zero. And even if that did happen, surely they'd have better things to do than play mind-games with the few remaining Nobodies…the few remaining Nobodies who'd played a big part in tearing down the Organization in the first place, Kanixa reminded herself. Oh, right. If the Organization was back, then destroying her, Axel and Demyx would be a pretty high item on their to-do list.

"Nixa?" Kanixa had been so lost in her own thoughts that she nearly walked into Axel's outstretched arm, which held the cemetery gate open for her. She looked up to see his green eyes boring into hers. "You okay?"

"I think so."

"You think so? Come on, where's your determination? We've got a holiday to save." Axel shoved at her shoulder playfully, but she could see past the smile on his face to worry beneath.

Kanixa gave him a smile in return, hoping that it didn't seem too strained. "You're right," she replied. "We can't let Sora out-show us, now can we?"

"That's the spirit!" Axel declared as they turned left out of the cemetery, heading towards town. "Let's see if we can find this Jack before Sora and the others do."

"You know," Demyx commented, stroking his chin, "something about that name worries me a little. Jack Skellington. Sounds a bit like—"

"Hello, all," a jovial voice boomed in Kanixa's left ear, and a hand that felt like it might as well be a bunch of bones took her shoulder in a firm grip.. "Did I hear you mention that you were looking for me?" She glanced over to look into the empty eye sockets of a –

"SKELETON!" she shrieked, throwing herself backward, out of his grip. Once she regained her balance, she summoned her Keyblade, lowering herself into a fighting crouch.

"That's 'Skellington,' actually," the skeleton corrected, holding up a bony finger as he gave her a death's-head grin. "Jack Skellington, at your service. I don't think I've met you before, though. Are you in town to help with the celebration?"

"The name's Axel—got it memorized?" Axel asked. He'd summoned his chakrams when Kanixa screamed, but now he let them vanish. "This is Demyx—" he nodded at the former Number Nine—"and this is Kanixa. Halloween's months gone. Isn't it a bit soon to be gearing up for next year?"

"No, no. Christmas!" Jack corrected. "It's practically here!" He spread his arms to demonstrate his enthusiasm, and for the first time Kanixa noticed that he wore a homemade Santa suit. "Your costumes are wonderful, by the way," he said, nodding at their Organization coats and weapons. "Very sinister…but not quite in the Christmas spirit."

"Hey! I thought you got banned from Christmas, Jack!" A voice called. Kanixa turned to see Sora standing a few yards away, Kairi just behind him.

"Ah, Sora! Good to see you!" Jack hurried over to the Keybearer, his quick, long-legged strides rather reminding Kanixa of the way an insect moved, and pumped Sora's hand up and down several times. "And…well…I'm not allowed to actually deliver the presents, but I don't think old Sandy Claws will mind me helping out. Just a little. With a few decorations, a few presents. What I have planned will really give Christmas that extra bit of flair!" the skeleton declared, lifting up a hand and clenching it into a fist for emphasis.

"I'm sure," Axel drawled. "But if you really want to help Santa, he needs some Heartless whacked. Are you up for that?"

"Heartless? Very spooky, great for Halloween, but they have nothing to do with Christmas," Jack said, brow ridges lowering in a frown. "I've noticed some cropping up in town, scaring some of the kids, but then, who doesn't like a good scare?"

"They're in Christmas Town, too, terrorizing the elves," Axel said.

"Oh, that will never do! I'm glad to help out in any way I can, of course," Jack added quickly. "I'm just not sure what to do to get rid of Heartless. That's more your line of work, isn't it, Sora?" he asked, turning to give the spiky-haired boy an inquisitive look.

Sora thumped himself on the chest. "I'm here to help!"

"Peachy," Axel cut in. "But what we really need to know is how the Heartless are getting in. Any ideas about that, Keyblade Master?"

"Well, uh—" Sora frowned. "I already sealed this world's Keyhole. They shouldn't be coming back—unless they're getting in some other way."

"Some other way. Great. That really narrows it down," Demyx muttered.

"I know someone who might be able to help," Jack said. "Dr. Finkelstein's probably the brightest man in all of Halloween Town. And he happens to be a friend of mine. Maybe we should go to him for advice—"

Sora shook his head. "I've already tried that. Dr. Finkelstein doesn't have any idea where the Heartless could be coming from, either—or what they're after in Christmas Town."

"Hey, fellas!" Kanixa glanced over to see Goofy running up from the direction that Sora had come from, closely followed by Riku and Donald.

"We didn't find Jack," Riku said, "but we did find Heartless. We took care of them, but we noticed something suspicious. When the Heartless appeared, it looked like they ran out of some sort of dark portal. A gateway to the Dark Realm. Like the kind the Organization used to make." He glanced over at Axel, Demyx, and Kanixa, eyes hard.

"You don't think that we—" Kanixa began to protest, but Riku was already shaking his head.

"No. You've been with us the whole time, and besides, the townies say that the Heartless problem has been going on for nearly a week. But if you're not the ones running around opening corridors to the Darkness, then who is?"

"Maleficent?" Sora guessed.

Kanixa opened her mouth to say what she'd seen in the graveyard, but one sharp look from Axel shut her up. "Good guess, Sora," he drawled. "And it fits. Especially since the King just warned us about her and all. Besides, it's not like she hasn't done this sort of thing before. Not all of the Heartless sent out last time were from us, you know." He smirked at Sora.

"I know," Sora replied, tone unusually grim. "But then, how do we stop it? I guess I could try re-sealing the Keyhole…."

"Great thinking, Sora! Where is it?" Jack asked.

"Well….it's kind of hard to remember…" Sora scratched his head.

Axel's shoulders slumped. "Man, I don't believe this," he sighed. "Well, keep thinking about it, Sora. And while you're thinking, the rest of us will do some poking around. Let's split up again."

"Split up? Sora's the only one who can detect the Keyhole," Riku said. "His Keyblade—"

"You've got one too, don't you?" Axel said, nodding at Riku. "And so does Kanixa." Riku considered for a moment, then shrugged his assent to Axel's logic. "I think we've got the whole Keyhole-detecting thing covered."

"Really?" Kanixa asked, skeptical. "But...are you sure that's something I can do? The Keyhole is the door to this world's heart or something , right? Hearts aren't exactly something I have experience with."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about. Your element is emotion—you have power over hearts. Power strong enough to spill over to those of us without them. If this world has a heart, I'm pretty sure you can find it."

"I never thought about it like that…" Kanixa muttered, ducking her head and running a hand through her hair to conceal her embarrassment. Axel made her power actually sound important and cool, instead of what it was, which was nearly useless. It wasn't like her element could actually help her with her fighting skills or anything.

"So, let's split up," Axel said authoritatively. "We—" he gestured at Kanixa and Demyx—"will take Christmas Town. If this place has a light side and a heart, it's there."

"Don't be too sure," Riku demurred. "Sometimes light can be found in unexpected places. Even in the places that look the darkest. I'll look in Halloween Town."

"We'll look with you," Sora said, flashing his friend a grin. "Won't we, guys?" he asked, looking at Donald and Goofy and Kairi. Donald and Goofy nodded their agreement, expressions resolute, and Kairi went over to put a hand on Riku's shoulder.

"Whoever finds the Keyhole will do their best to close it, agreed?" Axel asked. "And then come and find the others."

"Sounds good," Sora agreed. "See you soon! And be careful," he added, looking unusually solemn. "If Maleficent is behind this—"

"Please. You think we can't take her? I'm hurt," Axel drawled. "You just watch out for yourselves—and wait for us to find that Keyhole before you do!"

The challenge distracted Sora. "I bet you we find it first!" he called, then turned and ran back towards Halloween Town proper. His entourage followed quickly, and soon the three Nobodies were left with Jack.

"So, gentlemen! And lady," Jack added quickly, giving Kanixa an apologetic glance. "Let's be off to Christmas Town!"

"We were already planning on it," Axel said, eyes unreadable as he looked over at the skeleton. "But I wasn't aware you were coming along for the ride."

"Of course! If Sandy Claws needs me to help save Christmas, I'm happy to help. And it seems like your group could use my help, since Sora has so many friends following him."

"Great. We're saving Christmas with the help of a giant skeleton," Demyx muttered. "This just might be the weirdest day ever."

"Hey, Jack. You've worked with Sora before, right? Were you with him when he sealed the Keyhole for this world the first time?" Axel asked.

"Sora's helped me out on several occasions," Jack said brightly. "Mostly we've had to stop Oogie Boogie from ruining both Halloween and Christmas—"

"And where did you do that?" Axel asked. Kanixa mouthed at Demyx, 'Oogie Boogie?' The former Number Nine just shrugged, apparently at a loss as well.

Jack put a bony finger to his mouth, thinking. "Well, the first time we defeated Oogie at his mansion, but that burned down after the battle. Then we fought him in Sandy's workshop—"

"Santa's workshop!" Axel snapped his fingers. "That's got to be it! Let's get going." And with that, he headed towards the gateway back into Christmas Town—a Christmas tree carved into the trunk of one of the trees in the creepy woods around them. Kanix a and Demyx exchanged a helpless glance as Jack charged through after Axel, then headed through the portal themselves.

Kanixa had to close her eyes against blinding whiteness—the snow-covered hilltop outside of Christmas Town sure was a change from the gloomy woods around Halloween Town! She took a deep breath of the frosty, clean air, and smiled happily. She knew which she preferred! The carpet of snow, the snug little village below, the lights, the decorations…Axel had to be right. This was the world's light half. Surely the Keyhole would be here.

The quartet started down the steep hill that led into town, and this time Kanixa picked her steps carefully, not anxious to slip and have a repeat performance of plunging down the hill. Axel and Demyx found their footing with similar care, but Jack stalked down the hill with an alien kind of grace.

"Sandy's workshop is just across the town square," Jack explained, pitching his voice low. "But I have to warn you—he's not all that fond of me."

"You and me both," Axel snorted, looking at the skeleton with interest for the first time. "What did you do?"

"Well, once I stumbled onto this place, I wanted to capture a bit of the Christmas spirit for myself. So…I invited Sandy to take a vacation and let us in Halloween Town handle Christmas for the year. We constructed a sleigh and our own reindeer team—" Kanixa thought about asking about how they did that, but then changed her mind. Given that it came from Halloween Town, she probably didn't want to know—"and made presents…" Jack trailed off, sighing. "But there was a slight problem with my plan—"

They never got the opportunity to hear what that flaw was. With little popping noises, a mob of Heartless sprang up in the middle of the town square. Besides the run-of-the-mill Halloween Town Heartless, Kanixa spotted a few that seemed to fit with Christmas Town—giant jack-in-the-boxes—in addition to the usual Halloween Town spooks.

Axel charged straight at the group, slinging his chakrams ahead of him to deal some preliminary damage. Kanixa summoned her Keyblade and followed after him, stopping to engage any Heartless who stepped in her way. The little monsters were all around, she noticed when she glanced away from battling a Wight Knight to see how the others were doing. Demyx played his sitar frantically, calling up columns of water to knock a pair of Gargoyles out of the sky. Jack battered away at one of the jack-in-the-boxes, attacking in a flurry of arms and legs. And Axel sent another one up in flames as she watched, reducing it to nothing but fading tendrils of darkness and a freed heart floating up into the sky.

A well-timed blow from a Wight Knight, taking advantage of her lack of attention, sent her stumbling backwards. Instantly Axel was in front of her, taking down the Heartless with a spinning attack. "Watch out!" he snapped at her over his shoulder. "Let down your guard and they'll be all over you!" As if to demonstrate, he reached behind him to send a Gargoyle that had been trying to sneak up on him sprawling.

"Yeah, yeah," Kanixa muttered, getting to her feet just as Jack dispatched the last Heartless.

"I see what you mean," the skeleton said, frowning. "There are Heartless everywhere! No wonder Sandy Claws is having trouble getting his Christmas ready!"

"The sooner we find the Keyhole, the sooner everyone's problems will be solved," Axel said. He nodded at Kanixa's Keyblade. "Keep that out. Maybe it will help us to find the Keyhole."

"How?" Demyx asked.

"I don't know, I'm not a Keyblade wielder!" Axel snapped. "Maybe it will glow or something…anyway, what are we doing standing around here and talking?" he demanded, obviously trying to guide the conversation past his lack of knowledge. "We should be checking out Santa's workshop!"

He crossed the square and went up the steps to Santa's house. As the others gathered around him, he rang the bell impatiently, pressing the buzzer in so that the noise resounded around the inside of the house nonstop.

When the door opened, at first there appeared to be no one there. "Down here!" a voice squeaked, and the entire party tilted their heads down to see an elf peering out from behind the door. He wore a green outfit surprisingly similar to Riku's Christmas Town outfit, and Kanixa resisted the urge to break out into a foolish smile. He looked so cute!

"Are you here to help us get rid of the Heartless?" the elf asked.

"That's right," Axel agreed, giving the elf a friendly smile that Kanixa didn't trust for a minute. "We think we know why they're popping up. We just need to take a look around Santa's workshop—"

"But that's classified!" The elf squeaked. "No one can go in Santa's workshop! Then people could tamper with the presents and even—" the elf's voice dropped into a terrified whisper—"find out what they were getting for Christmas early!"

"Don't worry. We're not expecting presents," Axel assured the elf. "And are you sure we couldn't look in the workshop. Sora said—"

"You're a friend of Sora's?" The elf's resolve appeared to waver. "Well, I guess it would be all right this once…come in."

"Splendid!" Jack declared, coming into the elf's view for the first time. The elf's mouth rounded into a comical "o" of horror.

"It's you! You're not allowed in here!" He made as if to slam the door in their faces, but in the blink of an eye Axel had wedged his boot into the opening.

"But Sora sent him too," the redhead said, tone friendly and reasoning. "And you may not like us, but without our help, you'll never be ready in time for Christmas. Why not give us a chance?"

The elf considered for a long moment. "…Okay." He opened the door, letting them step into the house, and then led them down the narrow hallway and to a big door on the right side. "Santa's workshop is through here. But I'll have to supervise you. You understand."

"Of course." Axel gave the elf a smile before throwing open the door. Kanixa's mouth dropped open—the room on the other side with huge. Three enormous conveyer belts stood on the other side of the room. Every few seconds a present dropped from the ceiling onto one of the conveyer belts, where it made a swift trip down to the chute at the end. The quartet stepped out onto the stairs that led down to the workshop floor, the better to take in the room.

"Is that all to load the sleigh?" Kanixa asked Axel.

"Yeah. The presents drop down from the packaging room upstairs. Talk about a big operation. There must be more good kids among the worlds than I'd have guessed." He pulled a face. "But that's enough talk. It's time we started looking for the Keyhole."

"Right." Kanixa held her Keyblade straight out in front of her, feeling foolish. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, trying to envision a Keyhole for an entire world. For a second she could sense it, and almost see it on the backs of her eyelids—a glittering outline of light in the darkness. But it wasn't here. It was far away. "You guys, I think we're in the wrong place—" she began, opening her eyes.

"I'll say," Axel muttered, stepping in front of her, spinning his chakrams nervously. "Take a look at that!"

Across the room, a huge Heartless appeared. It had planted its feet in the space between the conveyer belts, and its huge head brushed the ceiling. Kanixa swallowed, hard: this was easily the biggest and most intimidating Heartless she'd ever seen. It looked basically humanoid in shape, with huge, spade-like feet and relatively narrow legs that merged into a huge, muscular-looking torso and arms. The thing had biceps bigger around than she was! The basic Heartless emblem glinted on its chest, but this time the design was red and green. Its face was a mass of dark tentacles, apart from its eyes, glittering with a sinister intelligence. And perched on the top of its head, a Christmas hat stood at a jaunty angle.

Their elf guide took one look at the monster and ran away, yelling in a squeaky voice, "Heartless! Heartless in the workshop!"

"Well, that's helpful!" Kanixa murmured before turning her attention back to the giant Heartless.

"I don't like this," Axel said. "This smells like a setup. Like someone knew we were coming here to look for a Keyhole, and sent us this Heartless instead." He snorted. "Some Christmas present."

"It's here and we're here. So we might as well take it down," Demyx said, summoning his sitar. His calm tone belied his way his fingers shook a bit on the strings. Kanixa could understand his nervousness. This was one big Heartless—and to do her part, she'd have to rely on her own strength. A monster like this wouldn't have a heart to appeal to, or emotions to manipulate. The only thing she could do would be to try to batter it down.

"Let's get started," she suggested, giving Demyx a smile. "What are we waiting for—Christmas?" Lowering herself into a crouch, she prepared to spring over the railing and at the Heartless-

Axel grabbed her by the hood. "Sorry, Nixa. Ladies first doesn't apply here, he told her with a smirk, releasing her and pushing her backwards, out of harm's way. He held his chakrams out from his sides, and the edges ignited. Like a discus thrower, he launched them both at the giant Heartless, and then leaped after them himself.

Both chakrams hit the Heartless squarely in the chest—and then, so did Axel, delivering a powerful kick with both feet that knocked the creature back a step. Axel landed neatly in front of the Heartless, catching his chakrams on the way down.

The Heartless lifted one giant foot to try to crush him, but Axel easily dodged. "Is that all you got?" he taunted.

Kanixa ran down the stairs and hurried over to join him, flailing away at the Heartless's nearest foot with her Keyblade. To her surprise, the Heartless didn't react at all to the blows, as if she was just some pesky fly buzzing around her ankle. Instead, it calmly bent over and plunged one arm into the ground up to the wrist, sending up a shockwave that nearly knocked her off of her feet. Darkness boiled out from around the arm, and Demyx, who stood closest, took several nervous steps backward.

"That's not good," Axel muttered, stating the obvious, before launching himself at the arm. "I think I found a weak point!" he called as he battered the thing's arm with his chakrams, sending up evaporating wisps of darkness as his attacks hit home. Demyx struck up a new tune on his sitar, and water clones of himself glided toward the arm and began to bludgeon it with their "sitars."

"No fair!" Axel called to Demyx. "You always find a way to get out of the really dirty work."

"I can't help it if I'm more creative than you," Demyx replied, giving the redhead a challenging smile. The smile quickly evaporated, and he called, "Axel, look out!"

"Huh?—" Axel curled himself into a ball and rolled away from the Heartless just as it pulled its arm from the ground, lifting it high in the air. Kanixa watched as the giant hand curled into a fist, wondering if it would try to smash someone. Instead, darkness boiled out of its fist, stretching out into a long, thin rod that became—

"A candy cane," Axel said flatly. "It just made a Candy Cane of Darkness." A feral smile stretched across his face. "Color me unimpressed, monster." He drew himself up and then leaped up at the Heartless, preparing to deliver anther double-kick to the chest.

Halfway to his target, the Heartless swung its candy cane at Axel like a club. The candy cane hit Axel in the torso with a sickening thud, and Kanixa watched in horror as it threw him across the workshop to crash into a wall. He slid down to sprawl on the floor, groaning.

Kanixa glanced from the Heartless to Axel, torn. Should she focus on revenge, or on helping a friend? Making her decision, she hurried over to Axel and knelt beside him. "Hey? Are you all right?"

Axel ignored her as he got to his feet, one arm curled protectively around his torso. He stayed hunched over slightly, getting his breath back, eyes blazing hate as they locked onto the Heartless. Demyx still pounded the thing with water columns, and Jack Skellington launched himself at it in a blur of motion, wrapping himself in flames before he did so. Wait—flames? She blinked to make sure that she was seeing correctly. Yep, the skeleton-man had definitely called up fire. Apparently Axel wasn't the only pyro around.

"Axel?" Kanixa repeated her question. "Are you okay?"

"Never better," Axel replied shortly, straightening up and calling his chakrams to him. "Someone has got to teach this monster that it takes more than a candy cane to take me down!" He slung both of his chakrams at the Heartless, but instead of arcing back to him they both lodged in the creature's chest.

"Burn, baby!" Axel shouted, snapping his fingers. The chakrams burst into flames, and soon the Heartless did too. Demyx wisely stopped hitting the Heartless with water attacks, on the off-chance that he might accidentally put the creature out. Jack kept up his attack, and Kanixa hurried over to join him. A few hits did the trick, and soon nothing was left of the Heartless but a rapidly evaporating puddle of darkness on the floor, and a heart that floated up to the ceiling before disappearing.

Kanixa glanced over her shoulder at Axel, who'd walked over to join her. "Remind me not to get on your bad side," she said, nodding at where all signs of the Heartless had pretty much vanished.

"I don't like being played with," Axel said. "And someone is definitely jerking us around. If it's Maleficent, I'm going to make her sorry." The certainty in his tone and the lack of emotion on his face sent a cold chill down Kanixa's spine. Then he smiled, and the moment was over. "But you should be happy, Kanixa. You just saved Christmas!"

"You mean, you just saved Christmas," Kanixa corrected. "You're the one that just destroyed that Heartless."

Rapid footsteps could be heard in the hallway, and the elf returned, followed by Santa. Both of them stopped on the stairs, clearly surprised to see only Axel, Demyx, Kanixa, and Jack. "Wh-what happened to the Heartless?" Santa demanded. "And—what is he doing here?" He pointed one black-gloved finger at Jack.

"I heard you were having some trouble, Sandy. So I came to offer my services," Jack said brightly.

"I've told you. I've told you a hundred times. I don't need any more of your 'help.' Creatures of Halloween Town have no business interfering in Christmas!" Santa declared, folding his arms over his stomach.

"Really? Because he just helped to destroy the Heartless that tried to wreck your workshop," Axel drawled. "I think you owe him some thanks."

"Nonsense!" Jack waved that idea away with one bony hand. "I'm glad to help. But don't you fellows think we'd better go and tell Sora what happened here? He seems to be the expert on the Heartless."

"if Sora's an expert on anything, I'll eat my chakrams," Axel muttered. More loudly, he said, "Sure, why not. Let's see what the others found."

"Sora?" Santa repeated. "Sora's here?" He sighed. "Not the brightest boy, but he has a good heart. Good thing he finally worked his way back on my 'nice' list."

"Wait, wait, wait." Axel put up his hands. "You mean _Sora _was on the naughty list? How high are your standards, anyway?"

"Sora told everyone he didn't believe in Santa Claus eight years ago. His friend Riku put him up to it, told him Santa Claus was for babies. So if he doesn't believe…"

"No presents. Got it," Demyx finished for him.

"But he's saved Christmas twice now—normally from this one's meddling," Santa said, glaring at Jack. The skeleton looked suitably cowed. "Putting him back on the nice list was the least I could do."

Axel opened his mouth, and Kanixa, sensing what he was about to ask, elbowed him in the ribs. When he glared down at her, she shook her head. "Look. Let's just go find Sora," she muttered. She wasn't about to be put back on the 'nice' list because of begging or blackmail. Nobodies didn't get put on the 'nice' list. And besides, Sora always was unnaturally lucky. Only someone like him could get clemency from Santa. "Sorry for causing you any inconvenience, Mr. Claus. You should have no trouble delivering your presents now."

Kanixa marched up the steps leading out of Santa's workshop, and then headed straight for the door, not looking to see who followed. Just as she crossed over the threshold, a hand landed on her shoulder. She glanced back to see Axel smiling at her.

"Look on the bright side, Nixa. We just saved Christmas. Wonder what the Organization would say if they could see us now?"

"They'd probably chastise us for pretending we had hearts," Kanixa said, not returning the smile. Shrugging out of his grip, she started down the stairs and across the main square of Santa's village. Just as she passed the carousel in the middle of the square, a voice called after her.

"Kanixa! Axel! Demyx! Wait up, fellows!" She glanced back to see Axel and Demyx just behind her, and in the distance, Jack sprinting to catch up to them. "Sorry, I was just discussing Christmas plans with Sandy. It's Christmas Eve, you know. He has a lot of catching up to do!" Jack frowned. "Only when I volunteered to get some friends to help him load the sleigh, he didn't seem very enthusiastic..."

"We've got to be moving on," Axel said flatly.

"But wait! I have a message for you all from Sandy! He says Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, well, Merry Christmas to him, too," Axel grumbled. "Come on, Nixa. Demyx. Let's go catch up with—"

"Hey, guys!" a voice called from the distance. Kanixa glanced up to see Sora bounding down Christmas Town's hill toward them, followed by his entourage. "We found the Keyhole," Sora reported once he'd reached them. "I sealed it back up." He put his hands behind his head. "I think this world's safe again, for now. Hey, Axel! I finally beat you at something. Guess you missed out on the action this time, huh?"

"Missed out on the action," Axel muttered, glancing back toward Santa's workshop. "Right…"

"Good work, Sora!" Jack declared. "Now I can get back to helping Sandy with the Christmas decorations. And you all had better get home. You don't want to miss Christmas, now do you?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" Sora agreed. "It was good to see you again, Jack! Try to stay out of trouble!" Jack nodded, before turning and heading back toward Santa's workshop. "So," Sora said, glancing over at the trio of Nobodies. "Where are you spending Christmas?"

"No idea. But I'm guessing the folks on Radiant Garden are probably having some short of shindig, right?" Axel asked, glancing over at Kanixa. She nodded in agreement, brow furrowing into a puzzled frown. Why would he bring that up? He hated spending any length of time there. "Then let's go check that out," he suggested, giving her a smile. "I think we can put off figuring out what craziness is going on with the worlds for one night."

"Aw, man, are you serious?" Demyx demanded in a whisper, glaring at Axel.

"Cheer up. There's probably free food. And Christmas lights." Axel didn't sound like he bought into his own pitch. "Look, we're going, and that's that."

"Fine." Demyx folded his arms.

"We'll go with you, then. The more the merrier, right?" Sora asked, smiling at them.

"Merry. Right. That's the word I'd use," Demyx muttered, looking rather put out about the fact that he would be stuck with both Leon and Sora for Christmas.

"Hey, you never know. It could be fun," Kanixa said, beginning to cheer up in spite of herself. "There will be hot cocoa and caroling—but you might want to plug your ears if Yuffie decides to go along. Sometimes it even snows, and we have these awesome snowball fights. Everyone else against Leon—"

"You're right," Axel said, a glint that Kanixa didn't like in his eyes. "That does sound like fun."

"Well, I guess we'll see you there. Let's go, guys!" Sora called, and suddenly he, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy went racing up the hill. "See you on Radiant Garden!"

* * *

Spending Christmas Eve on Radiant Garden wasn't so bad, really, Axel decided, sprawled on Aerith's couch with Kanixa beside him. Everyone had made a big fuss about their arriving just in time for Christmas, and even Leon seemed genuinely happy to see them. Well, happy to see Kanixa.

"You made it," he'd said when he answered the door of Aerith's house, a pleased smile quirking up the corners of his mouth. Immediately he tried to cover for it by looking macho, but that was hard to do with strings of lit Christmas lights coiled around his neck.

"Get back here, Squall—I mean, Leon," Yuffie said hastily when Leon shot her a glare. "I need you to help me finish decorating this tree—oh, it's you three!" The ninja girl threw herself off of the ladder where she'd been leaning precariously, trying to put a star topper on a big fir tree that had only been half-wrapped with lights. "You made it just in time for Christmas! Isn't it great?" she asked Leon.

Leon's only response was stony silence, until Yuffie towed him back to the tree using his necklace of lights. "Don't just stand there, finish getting the tree lit! And then get in the kitchen before Aerith takes it into her head to make dinner."

"Roger," Leon said hastily, climbing up the ladder to add lights to the top of the tree.

As if on cue, Aerith emerged from the kitchen. "Axel. Demyx. Kanixa. You're back," she said, giving them all a happy smile. "Can I offer you some egg nog? Or some cocoa?"

"Sure," Demyx said brightly. Kanixa, noticing the frantic 'no' motion Yuffie was making behind Aerith's back, chose to abstain, and Axel followed suit. If Kanixa was passing it up, there had to be a reason. A few minutes later, Demyx discreetly dumped his cocoa into the base of the Christmas tree's stand.

"Told you," Yuffie muttered, sounding smug.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of decorating, carols, and the occasional insult from Axel—hey, he couldn't be expected to stay in the same enclosed space with Leon and keep a civil tongue in his head the entire time, now could he? Now Axel sat on the couch, fighting the urge to fall asleep. Beside him, Kanixa had already conked out. She'd declined to go to bed several times, and he could guess why. She was hoping against hope that Santa would choose to show up. But the big guy probably wasn't coming. After all they'd done for him! Apparently Old Saint Nick couldn't let bygones be bygones. What a jerk, Axel decided sleepily, eyelids drooping. He probably should go back there and teach Santa a lesson…

Axel woke with a start, after hearing someone scream.

"Santa! Santa's been here!" Yuffie shrieked, dancing around with glee by the Christmas tree.

"No need to wake up the entire town, Yuffie," Leon growled as he staggered out of the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one hand and clutching a mug of coffee in the other.

"And there's a present for me!" Yuffie continued as if he hadn't spoken, lifting up a shuriken-shaped package. She shook it to see if it rattled, then rapped on it with her knuckles. "I wonder what it could be?"

"Santa left you something?" Leon raised his eyebrows as she tore at the wrapping paper. "If he thinks you've been good this year, he needs better intel."

"I heard that!" Yuffie pouted. "But look—there are presents for you, and Aerith, and Cid, and Merlin, and—hey! Here's one for Sora! I wonder how Santa knew he'd be here?"

Leon knelt beside Yuffie, helping her inventory the presents. "One for Donald…One for Goofy…Riku…Kairi…hey!" He lifted up a small, square box and doublechecked the tag. "Yep. Santa definitely needs to do more research," he muttered, before tossing the small package at Axel.

"Why are you throwing presents at me?" Axel demanded, catching the box mainly on reflex.

"It's got your name on it," Leon replied. "There's one for Demyx…and one for Kanixa, too. That last I can understand," he added in an undertone.

"Hey. Do you hear that?" Axel nudged Kanixa, and she woke up. "You've got something. A present from Santa."

Kanixa's entire face lit up, and she sat up quickly. "Really?" she asked, glancing over at the tree.

"Really," Leon confirmed, tossing her a long, thin box. There was a note taped to the box, and Kanixa flipped it open.

"What's it say?" Axel asked, curious in spite of himself.

"It says, '_I've put you and your friends back on the 'nice' list. Don't make me change my mind._'" Kanixa giggled. "I know that will be hard for you. You're not exactly 'nice list' material, Axel."

"Hey! I'm nice…sometimes," Axel defended. "Hey…don't you want to open your present?"

She shook her head. "I can wait until Demyx wakes up. Besides…I've already gotten the best present. Being shown how great my friends are. Not just anyone would take on Santa Claus for me." She smiled at him.

"You've got that right," Axel agreed, smirking at her. "But next year, Christmas has to squeak by on its own. I won't be saving it. Got that memorized?"


End file.
